At age 3, Max likes to find new ways to test snowshoes. (Kate Goodin photo)

6:30 am: I’m lying in bed with a slowly-waking-up Max (aka “Boonie”), discreetly trying to keep his attention away from the windows. I’m not ready to get up yet, and I know something that he doesn’t: it snowed last night. He’s not the kind of boy to take this lightly. A heavy frost gets him excited.

6:45 am: He turns his head. It’s just light enough now that he can tell that the world is white. He’s silent for about a second and then, “Ohhhhhhhh…” He scrambles for the window and leans on the sill, banging his head on the glass. Groggy as I am, I smile as his high-pitched 3-year-old voice squeaks with delight, “Snow! I want to go outside!?” It’s a question, a statement and a plea all at once. Who can deny a child with that kind of passion? “Okay,” I say, “Let’s get dressed.”

“I want to go snowshoeing!”

“I know, Boonie, but you have to get dressed first.”

When to Start

Late last winter we had the opportunity to try out some snowshoes for Max. He was just beginning the transition from riding in a backpack carrier for most of our walks to doing more and more on his own two feet. It was time. Not only is he a strong, active boy, but he’s big for his age, and heavy, and it was increasingly obvious that it would soon be impractical to carry him for long distances. Perhaps more importantly, his independence was blossoming and he was eager to interact with the world on his own terms, inspecting and investigating things that caught HIS attention. This has brought so much wonder to my life; with him in the Ergo backpack carrier we used, I was able to share what I found interesting with him, but now he is an active participant, often pointing out, and asking questions about, things that I have missed, things I wouldn’t have thought to wonder about on my own.

Well before he turned 3, Max was perfecting his snowshoe yoga technique. (Kate Goodin photo)

In the winter of 2010/11, when Max was just two-and-a-half, we had a LOT of snow. My husband Doug plows the yard clear between our house and the barn, where our firewood is stacked. This gave Max a good start at playing outside, but he wanted to know what was going on in the rest of the yard. As soon as he tried to step off the plowed area or off the snowmobile trail that runs through our field, he would stumble, sink, and immediately get frustrated at his lack of forward motion. I shoveled some paths for him early in the year, but this obviously wasn’t a long-term solution. We hadn’t thought that he would need snowshoes so soon, but we knew that Max and snowshoes were inevitable, so we decided to start looking. This may sound crazy, but I like to start him on things before he’s ready. Not TOO much before, mind you; I don’t want to discourage him. But let’s put it this way: I wanted him to be comfortable with the IDEA of using snowshoes before he HAD to use them.

With this in mind, we started looking at what was available that would work for someone as small and eager as Max. It’s apparently not that common for a two- or three-year-old to snowshoe on his or her own, at least not very far. At first, the only snowshoes I could find designed to fit him appeared to be cheesy kid things, and I just wasn’t interested in that. I know my son well enough to know that he wouldn’t be, either. He wants his stuff to look and work like Mommy’s and Daddy’s. This is a kid who, when asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, said “Ummmm …chainsaw!” You get the picture.

Last year, we rented Tubbs snowshoes from EMS for him to try and they worked perfectly. Unfortunately, they changed that particular model and we weren’t able to find any to buy. So we started looking at what was on the market  and found a number of other quality snowshoes designed for smaller kids. The question was, would they fit Max? And could he move independently on them?

Lucky for us, Max is big for his age, and his feet are bigger still. His boots last year were size 10s. For this test,  he’s wearing size 11, so he was able to at least try all the models.

Looking At Kids’ Snowshoes: Do Kids Need Different Features?

Max showing off the rotating toe cord on the TSL Freeze. (Kate Goodin photo)

Choosing snowshoes for adults who know what they want to do on them is difficult enough. Choosing snowshoes for Max seemed even more daunting. For example, adult snowshoes basically come in two forms which, I’ve found, make the snowshoes perform very differently. But this difference isn’t always visible just by looking at the snowshoe. It’s in the “toe cord” which is the connection between the binding, which holds the boot, and the deck, which provides flotation. Adult shoes have either “rotating toe cords” which let the tail of the snowshoe drop as you take a step, or “tight” or “fixed” toe cords which restrict the drop of the snowshoe’s tail to varying degrees. Basically, for adults, tight toe cords are more maneuverable, rotating toe cords work better in deep snow.

We found to our surprise that kids’ snowshoes also offer a third option: no toe cord.  The snowshoe deck is bound directly to the foot. In theory, this should be the most maneuverable of all, and a possible advantage for the littlest snowshoers,

We tried to go into this test of kids’ snowshoes without any preconceived notions of which type of toe cord would work best. Keeping an open mind was not as easy as it sounds. I love my current snowshoes (2006 Tubbs Ventures), but my first pair of snowshoes were awful. They had very tight toe cords and constantly flipped snow onto my legs and back. I came home from every snowshoe trek cold and wet. I tolerated them for several years because I loved snowshoeing and I didn’t know there were options. Based on that experience I can’t think why an adult wouldn’t want a rotating toe cord on a snowshoe for general winter travel, and, in fact, that’s exactly what the entire EasternSlopes.com editorial team recommends. When I got the pair I use now it was like discovering that you could buy a car with a roof on it to keep the weather off you. What a great idea!

BUT, in the case of a little kids’ snowshoe, we saw it was possible for tight toe cords or even no toe cords to have their advantages. The maneuverability is definitely a plus. Kids rarely break trail for themselves for any distance. And when you send a little kid out in the snow, you’d better believe they are going to get it all over themselves, snowshoes or no snowshoes. Since they are probably going to be diving headfirst into it, having a little extra flung at them by their snowshoes isn’t going to matter all that much.

That being said, there are snowshoes for little ones that have a rotating toe cord. Somewhat bizarrely, Atlas touts the increased strength of the steel rotating toe cord on its Sprout 17 model while saying that the model for older kids, the Spark 20, has a fixed toe cord for easier maneuvering. Backwards logic? The question was: would a kid as young as three be able to handle the  maneuverability issues inherent with a rotating toe cord?

We decided to let Max’s experience on the shoes be our guide to what worked.

Binding Adjustment, User Weight and Deck Size

The test lineup, left to right LL.Bean Winter Walker 16, Yukon Charlie Junior, Atlas Sprout 17, MSR Tyker, TSL Trappeur. TSL 302 Freeze, Tubbs Storm, and Mom's and Dad''s snowshoes for size comparison. (Kate Goodin photo)

The other matter of concern was the physical size of the snowshoes and the ability to fit them to little kids. Obviously there’s a balancing act here. Bigger snowshoes are harder for a small kid to maneuver–especially a three year old. But bigger snowshoes will hold bigger kids so you’ll get more years out of your investment. Though 21-inch adult trail shoes will work for larger kids, we confined our tests to real “kid size shoes” under 20 inches long

Boot size is a hugely important factor when choosing a kids’ snowshoe. You absolutely must to be able to make the binding snug on their boot or the deal is off. Because Max has pretty big feet, we didn’t have too much trouble with this. Some of the bindings didn’t fit perfectly, but it was hard to tell whether that was because Max’s boots were on the small end of their range, or if it was just because of the design. I will say up front that if your child’s feet are smaller than size 10, I think only one of the recommended models, the MSR Tykers, will fit. Most of the manufacturers listed size 11 as the low end of the scale, but the few we tried last fall with Max’s size 10s tightened down enough to be perfectly functional.

The whole point of a snowshoe of course is to provide flotation in deep snow, keeping the wearer from sinking to their armpits. There is a lot of variability in what the manufacturers say regarding flotation. One 16″ shoe was supposed to provide enough flotation for 100 lbs, while another model, 3 inches longer, only claimed 90 lbs. I don’t think there’s a formula to come up with these numbers. How much sinking in what kind of snow is acceptable before you say someone needs more flotation? Our recommendation is to look at these numbers as a guideline only. According to the manufacturer’s specs, the weight range for the snowshoes we tested is 60-110 lbs. In general, a bigger deck is going to provide more flotation.

We found three models that worked particularly well for both Max and Mom, and we are giving these our top ratings. A fourth model gets a sort of lopsided thumbs up, and the final three didn’t make us so happy for some very specific reasons which may or may not be important to you and your little one. Our three favorite models are amazingly different from each other and worked well in very different ways. You might find that one particularly suits your child while another might not be as good; you’ll have to assess your child’s size, physical abilities and interest and patience levels to choose among the three. We’ve simply listed the top picks alphabetically by brand because they are so different we can’t really rate one as better than the others. Following those are shoes we didn’t rate as highly for our uses. We’ve tried to give very specific reasons why they didn’t work as well for us. Your child and your circumstances may be different and you may find they would work fine for you.

MSR Tykers: Dimensions: 6.5 x 17, Recommended Boot Size: 7.5 kid’s-4.5 men’s, Recommended Maximum Weight: 90 lbs, Toe cord: direct attachment.

The MSR Tykers are miniature versions of the proven adult model, with a binding that will fit the tiniest foot. (Tim Jones photo)

Two strong points we noticed right away on the MSR Tykers: First, the overall quality. These are not cheap plastic toys. In fact, they are basically the long-proven Denali adult shoe in a kid size. In addition to a lot of weight-carrying capacity, they offer some serious traction as well. Second, the bindings are both easy to use and seriously adjustable; three heavy duty rubber straps with holes to hook over metal tabs. And there are so many holes in those straps that if your little one can walk, you’ll likely be able to get these snowshoes secured on his or her boots. And it’s easy for Mom or Dad to do now, and for the child to do later.

Back to traction for a moment: A lot of the traction material on the bottom of the Tykers is plastic instead of metal. Most parents (me included) would likely be a bit freaked out if they’d made a kid’s snowshoe with as much scary looking metal on the bottom as there is on the adult MSR snowshoe. While the side traction bars are made of the same plastic as the decking, there is still a little metal, and there has to be. The plastic provides enough traction for snow, the metal helps dig in to crust and ice. Unless your wee one is going to be making icy, high-angle ascents, this is serious enough stuff to keep them moving. One caution, however: Because there is no articulation between boot/binding and the deck of the snowshoe, the wearer can’t point the toe crampon into a slope. Going up an icy or heavily crusted slope can be difficult. Keep that in mind if you and your little one climb lots of hills on hard snow.

The thing that really sets these MSRs apart is how tightly the snowshoe is held to the foot.  There isn’t a toe cord at all; in fact, there’s no articulation between the boot/binding and the deck of the snowshoe. If you are concerned about your kid getting tangled and tripped by a snowshoe that swings down and away from the foot, these are an excellent choice. Max performed an unauthorized (Mom note: at least I did not authorize it!) experiment and proved that, with these snowshoes on, when Mom’s back is turned, you can actually climb into a freestanding wheelbarrow without tipping it over or falling on your head. So the snowshoes get an A+ for maneuverability. And because the boot is so tight to the deck you don’t get the snow-catapult action you get with a tight toe cord. Add the bonus that these will fit just about the tiniest foot out there, and overall we’d have to say that these are the best entry level snowshoes for really little ones.

TSL 302 Freeze: Dimensions: 7 x 19 Recommended Shoe Size: junior 11-men’s 6, Recommended Weight: 40-110 lbs Toe cord: full rotating

Logging roads and hunters' trails are our stomping grounds. Max had no troubles with the rotating toe cord. (Kate Goodin photo)

Do not let the wild look of this snowshoe fool you. They really work. We had our doubts whether plastic toe crampons and a few steel nubbins in the back would provide much traction, but they really do the job. Max hiked up a hill with snow-covered ice in spots and never slipped once. (Mom note: What kind of mother am I that I guide my child towards the ice to see if his crampons work? The kind of mother who wants to know if his gear works before I let him get into real trouble on what he’s gonna try anyway…)

This snowshoe was one of only two that had a full rotating toe cord, unusual in a kids’ shoe, for the maneuverability reasons stated above. The first time Max tried these it seemed like it might be a bit of an issue, but not much. The second time, he hiked about a mile in the woods on snowmobile tracks and unpacked trails, through puckerbrush and over logs, and he never had a problem. He ran in them, crossed brooks and stone walls,  played hide-and-seek behind trees. Now, don’t get me wrong. He’s not quite three-and-a-half, but he’s been using snowshoes for a year and has tried different snowshoe models all winter. Be realistic when assessing not just your kid’s age and abilities, but temperament and interest level. If she’s easily frustrated or only tentatively interested, then getting tangled up a few times might just make her want to throw the snowshoes in the closet forever.

TSL’s website says shoe sizes for this model start at girls 13, a retailer says they fit junior 11 to men’s 6; we found that they fit Max’s 11s just fine. The binding on these shoes, like the snowshoe itself, is a bit weird looking, but again, don’t be put off by that. Pull on a tab and slide the heel cup back and forth to adjust the length for the individual boot. Once that is set, two Velcro straps hold the boot in. Just Velcro? Yup, just Velcro. As noted, Max walked a mile, over hill and dale, he crawled, he rolled, and the snowshoes didn’t budge.

TSL lists 110 pounds as the weight limit for these. It’s on the higher end, and one independent website says 90 pounds, but they are 19 inches long, two inches longer than the MSRs, so we can believe they’d give a little more flotation. And even as long as they are, the hourglass shape seems to make it easier for a little kid to walk with what amounts to really big feet.

Yukon Charlie’s Junior Series   Dimensions: 16 x 7, Recommended Shoe Size: none given, Recommended Weight: up to 100 lbs, Toe cord: tight

The Yukon Charlie's in action. (Kate Goodin photo)

The Yukon Charlie’s Junior Series Mountain Goat was the big surprise of the test. This is a really nice all-around snowshoe for kids! It has crampons where it needs crampons, front and back. They are aluminum and that’s more than fine on a kids’ snowshoe. Stainless might last longer but aluminum weighs less and if that means another quarter of a mile, out of him before he says, “Mommmmm…carry me!,” I’m good with that. Probably even more to the point, he isn’t likely to be in too many situations where he’ll be putting a lot of wear and tear on the crampons. When you’re crossing a rocky summit and the bare rock alternates with solid ice…that’s when your crampons really take a beating. It’ll be a few years before he’s on a winter hike of that caliber. Several of the other models we tried also had aluminum crampons, as do my snowshoes.

The toe cord on these is fixed. Does it throw a little snow? Yeah, a little. I see no reason to worry about this on a kids’ shoe. If your kid is anything like mine, no snowshoe can compete with the amount of snow he gets plastered on him just by being out in it. And at only 16 inches, there isn’t as much surface area to collect and throw snow to begin with.

I can’t find any mention of what size boot these Charlie’s will fit. They fit on Max’s 11s just fine.

The super-fast release cord on the binding of the Yukon Charlie's. (Kate Goodin photo)

The binding is super easy, not just to get into, but also out of. When the wearer is only three, “out-of” can be just as important as “in-to”. Emergencies happen.

The Yukon Charlie’s Juniors  are rated at 100 pounds of flotation, which seems a bit high for the 16 inch long deck. But even as big as Max is, it’s going to be a while before he comes close to that. If you are looking for a quality first snowshoe for a little kid, these deserve serious consideration. They have become our go-to shoe for everyday use, and with Max, snowshoeing is an every day activity.

If It Ain’t Broke . . .

Tubbs Storm  Dimensions: 19 x 7, Recommended Shoe Size: junior 11-men’s 6, Recommended Weight: 40-90 lbs, Toe cord: tight.

The new Tubbs Storm is a fine snowshoe--except for the difficult-to-use binding. We liked the old style much better. (Kate Goodin photo)

These snowshoes get a kind of lopsided thumbs-up from us. We’ve tried it in two versions, old and new and our verdict is: This snowshoe was perfect…before they changed it. The traction is great, right where it needs to be. The documentation that came with the shoe says the crampon is aluminum, while their website says it’s all stainless. It looks stainless. The deck gives plenty of flotation for his weight, and is rated up to 90 pounds, so there’s lots of room to grow. The toe cord is tight. With a 19 inch long deck you do get a little more snow thrown than with the Charlie’s, but again…adults may want to be out in the snow without being in the snow, but that’s not so true with a kid.

The primary difference between the old Storm and the new Storm, and the reason for our lukewarm recommendation of the new ones is in the bindings.  The old Storm had a binding similar to the the React binding that’s on my adult snowshoes and it worked perfectly; easy to put on, and it stays secure forever. I believe it is the same binding they still use on the Glacier, for older kids. But someone, somewhere in the universe, decided to “improve” a binding that worked perfectly . . .It’s now a single very stiff plastic strap with a ratcheting buckle that requires you to pinch, push and pull all at the same time to  snug it up adequately on small boots. While the new binding will fit Max’s boots, it ain’t quick or easy. When all is said and done, the bindings keep the snowshoes on, which is the point. But . . . based on our experience, we’d recommend looking for a pair of the older style. Some retailers may still have some in stock or you may find them on the used market.

Thumbs Down . . . For Specific Reasons

Redfeather Youth 20 Dimensions: 7 x 20, Recommended Shoe Size: none given, Recommended Weight: up to 80 lbs. Toe cord: tight

Otherwise a fine shoe, the Redfeathers didn't make the cut because they lacked heel traction of any kind. Max slipped and fell several times on a crusty hill that gave him no trouble on other snowshoes. (Kate Goodin photo)

These snowshoes are pretty neat looking. They are 20 inches long, but part of that length is just tail, so it doesn’t add as much flotation as you might think. Redfeather rates them at 80 pounds.The toe cord is the common fixed style (Redfeather calls it a “live action hinge”). We didn’t get to try them in soft snow, but wouldn’t be surprised if the tapered tail reduced any snow-throwing tendencies. We didn’t encounter any “flip” as we tested these on hard-packed snow. And this brings us to our one complaint with this shoe: Where we live and play, crampons are really important. These shoes are lacking 50% of what they should have. There’s a perfectly respectable toe crampon, but nothing under the heel. And that causes problems.

Using these shoes, Max fell three times in rapid succession on a small hill covered with crusty, packed snow. He’d already negotiated this same hill without any trouble on several other shoes. Based on those falls, we  immediately wrote these off as unacceptable for our needs. Yes, snowshoes were originally designed to keep the wearer from sinking in deep powder, but we all use our snowshoes for a lot more now and hard snow on hills is part of life, especially in the East.

However, if you live somewhere where the snow conditions are more consistently fluffy powder, or you always stay on level ground this might be a perfectly good choice; they are clearly well made.

We also had a minor complaint about the toe cap on these binding, a sort-of folded up rubber the toe of the boot slides into. No matter how they shape it, this type of binding while easy to use, always seems to fit less snugly than other designs, especially with a smaller boot. That being said, the bindings fit Max’s 11s, and the rest of the binding, two rubber straps with many holes (similar to the MSRs), was easily adjustable and easy to put on.

If it had a heel crampon, we’d have found this shoe recommendable.

L.L. Bean Winter Walker 16 Dimensions:16 x 8, Recommended Shoe Size: none given, Recommended Weight: up to 60 lbs, Toe cord: fixed

The underboot plate of the L.L. Bean binding creates a tripping hazard when adjusted to the smallest setting. (Kate Goodin photo)

These snowshoes get some rave reviews from folks on the L.L. Bean website. I can only imagine they are from people with larger kids who don’t have to adjust the binding size to fit a little one. In all the above snowshoes, binding size is either adjusted by simply having a binding that cinches down to fit the boot currently in it (the most basic adjustment I can imagine). In the case of the TSLs, adjusting for larger or smaller boots is a very simple matter: Lift the tab and slide. Takes about five seconds. Tip: do it with an empty boot so you’re not trying to hold your kid’s weight up off the thing you are trying to slide, while trying to slide it.

The L.L. Bean shoes annoyed me right out of the box when I realized that, to properly adjust them, I was going to need a socket wrench and a screwdriver. We tried them without adjusting for length, but found on our first outing that with the heel cap in the “larger “position, Max had almost no weight over the toe crampons, rendering them basically useless.

That meant I was going to have to go the wrench and screwdriver route to have any sense of whether or not the shoes performed well for Max.. Now, I don’t mean to be a whiner, but having little fiddly bits of snowshoe (nuts, bolts, crampons) loose on the living room floor was not my idea of fun, especially with an anxious three-year-old on the prowl… Perhaps it annoyed me in particular because it’s not necessary. Not one of the other snowshoes required me to disassemble the binding to get Max’s weight functionally distributed on the heel and toe crampons.

The real problem with the Bean binding revealed itself only after the bindings were correctly sized for Max’s boots. Once the heel cap was adjusted so that his weight was properly over the crampons, the flat plastic bottom of the binding protruded beyond the tips of his boots, tripping him. After less than five minutes, he’d had it and asked to take the shoes off.

You could cut the excess off the front of the plate, but in so doing you would eliminate the possibility of adjusting the binding when your child grew. With the flotation listed for this snowshoe at 25-60 pounds, it’s not like Max was on the small end of the spectrum of potential users of the snowshoe.

Everything else about this snowshoe is fine and it should work very well for larger kids with feet large enough to use the larger binding setting. It has a fixed toe cord, aluminum crampons at toe and heel—all good. Change the binding to something like the one on the Yukon Charlie’s have and you’d have…well, the Yukon Charlie’s…one of our top choices.

The “Kiddie Shoe” Conundrum

While the other snowshoes we tested were, in essence, downsized versions of adult shoes, the two that follow are clearly designed as “kiddie shoes,” and they simply did not perform as well in our conditions.

Atlas Sprout 17 Dimensions: 6.25 x 17, Recommended Shoe Size: none given, Recommended Weight: 30-80 lbs., Toe cord: Rotating

Snow packed in the bottoms of the Atlas Sprout model. This wasn't a wet snowfall. (Kate Goodin photo)

Some of the snowshoes we tested were as short, or even shorter, than the Sprout, but those all had the bonus of looking, and generally, behaving like a small version of an adult shoe. The Sprout has hard plastic decking, like the MSR Tyker, but the MSR is a mini-version of a well-respected adult shoe. This isn’t.

The Sprout , like the TSL Freeze, features a full rotating toe cord. We found it puzzling that Atlas advertises the fixed toe cord on the Spark 20 model (for older kids, remember) as allowing easier maneuvering and then puts a rotating toe cord on the snowshoe for the younger, presumably less coordinated kids. But be that as it may, Max showed us with the TSL 302 that it’s at least possible for a three-year-old to handle a rotating toe cord.

The trouble with this shoe is similar to the problem we had with the Redfeathers reviewed above. While not totally lacking in rear traction, these have no crampon. The underside of the decking is molded into a snowflake pattern—which makes prints in the snow that your kids are supposed to love, by the way. It provides some traction, but not enough for our conditions. And, worse, even in dry snow (at least by eastern standards), we found that the whole bottom of the snowshoe filled up like a cookie cutter with the cookie still stuck in it. This wasn’t in super dry powder, but here in New England we have very variable snow conditions. We might have cured the problem buy spraying the underside of the deck with silicone spray, but that shouldn’t be necessary. Frankly we don’t want snowshoes that don’t perform admirably in, at the very least, most of the conditions we are likely to encounter.

Atlas rates these snowshoes at 80 pounds of flotation. The binding was OK. The toe cap didn’t fit as snugly as others, but it seemed fairly secure and was pretty easy to put on. They don’t mention what boot size it is supposed to fit, but say that the snowshoe is recommended for ages 4-8.

Atlas also makes the the Spark 20, which we did not review. It looks like a miniature version of an adult shoe with front and rear crampons, fixed toe cord, and 120 pound maximum weight. In retrospect, this model would have been more comparable to the others in the test. We intend to test this model as soon as possible. It has the same binding as the Sprout, meaning it should work reasonably well with Max’s boots.

TSL Trappeurs  Dimensions: 20 x7, Recommended Shoe Size:10.5-4, Recommended Weight: 30-65 lbs., Toecord: tight

Max showing off the tails of the TSL Trappeurs. Unfortunately, they easily tangle in the slats of the decking. (Kate Goodin photo)

The TSL Trappeurs looked, on paper, like they might be a good first snowshoe for little kids. They mirror the shape of old-style snowshoe designs, including tails, but they are molded of an extremely rugged plastic that will stand up to hard “kid use.” When we first tested these last season, we went out in after a late-winter storm with no concerns about him getting in the mud where it was exposed. The snowshoes are very simple and plastic and muck rinsed off easily before we put them away.

The recommended weight range for the TSL Trappeurs is 30-65 pounds. The bindings on these are super-simple, just a rubber galoshes-type toe with an elastic heel loop, and should fit boot sizes 10.5 – 4. For some kids this might be great as they would be able to easily put on their own snowshoes as long as they had the finger strength to pull the sturdy rubber. Max. like most kids, likes to do things on his own; and that increases his desire to participate. But we found that, while the simplicity of this design is a great idea, the rubber is, by necessity, such a tight fit on the boot that we can’t imagine a little kid being able to pull it on all by himself or herself. Once they are strong enough to deal with the Trappeur binding, they are probably ready to figure out and use a more “complicated” design.

When Max was two-and-a-half, he had one issue with these snowshoes. He frequently tangled the tails in the lateral perforations in the decking. That long, skinny tail kept catching in the other shoe and tripping him up, which he found frustrating. An older kid with more experience just-plain-walking might not have so much trouble, but since these are supposed to be for little kids…

Our other concern with this shoe was traction. With three rounded-off metal points, two under the ball of the foot and one under the heel, they offer some traction, but it doesn’t compare to our recommended models above. On perfectly flat ground or always in soft snow, this might be fine, but I challenge you to stay on soft snow and flat ground while tramping in the woods in New England.

While it looks simple and cute, these shoes are too simple and too cute to really function. We felt that they would end up disappointing and frustrating a child rather than encouraging him or her to really develop a love of snowshoeing. Fortunately, TSL also makes the excellent 302 Freeze, a much better investment if you want serious snowshoes for your child.

The Takeawy

What’s really amazing in this whole test is that we found so many quality snowshoes for  kids. We proved that, literally, if your child can walk independently, you can choose snowshoe options that will work. Even the snowshoes we didn’t particularly like for our uses were well made and would likely suit someone else. In other words, you definitely don’t have to settle for cheap junk, nor do you need to spend a fortune to get snowshoes that will keep your child smiling and happy on snow until he or she is ready for adult-sized shoes.

Frame, filler, binding and cleats, the four major components of a modern snowshoe. (Tim Jones photo)

There are lots of modern snowshoes on the market these days and the variety can be confusing—especially since most look a lot alike. Different shoes with different features are better for different jobs, and picking the right ones for you and your needs can be challenging.

By the way, we are only dealing here with “modern” snowshoes. There are some older designs out there that still work, and if you already own them and like them, go out and have a ball. Wooden snowshoes, for example, are lovely to look at, and still float you on top of the snow. But like wooden boats, they are mostly used by traditionalists who appreciate the aesthetics and craftsmanship inherent in working with wood. This story is for people who are buying their first snowshoes or looking to upgrade older models to something with, perhaps, more performance and practicality. And we are going to focus entirely on snowshoes for the east, where we have more hills than mountains and snow that can range from boilerplate blue ice to deep soft fluff–often on the same trail on the same day.

The way to begin sorting out snowshoes is to imagine what, specifically you are going to do on them and, to some extent, where you are going to do it. As we see it, there are two general categories of snowshoes; there’s no official name for them, but, for lack of better terms, let’s call them racing/running, and backcountry/general use.

Little bitty snowshoes that don’t flop around are a real advantage when running on packed trails, not so good in deep, untracked snow. (Tim Jones photo)

Racing/running snowshoes are designed primarily for aerobic workouts and are almost always better used on packed or heavily crusted snow. Backcountry/general use snowshoes will go anywhere; they are the ATVs of the winter world. Real backcountry shoes are designed primarily for use in untracked snow and a variety of conditions, including wearing a backpack and dealing with steep slopes and sidehills. Not surprisingly, shoes that work well for racing/running tend to be awful for backcountry and vice versa. If you want to go running on snowshoes for exercise in winter, and you also want to put on a pack and go exploring the untracked, you are going to need two pairs of snowshoes.

You’ll very often see a category of snowshoes labeled “recreational.” This is a catch-all title for “value priced” snowshoes that don’t have all the features of top-of-the-line snowshoes. But the truth is there are “recreational” snowshoes that are better for running/racing and others that are better for backcountry/general use. You just need to recognize the differences.

Where things get confusing is that manufacturers often aren’t clear about what a snowshoe is best for. Their job is to get you to buy their snowshoes, so of course they make the ones that are best for everything, right? In our experience, even the salespeople at outdoor shops (and, apparently, some journalists who write about snowshoeing) are sometimes fuzzy about the finer points of snowshoes. So your best strategy is to learn all you can, ask lots of questions, and try as many snowshoes as you can before you buy. The more you know about yourself, what you want to do and what works for you, the more likely you are to find the right snowshoes for you on the first try.

A full rotating toe cord lets the heel of the snowshoe drop freely to shed snow from the deck--very useful in deep snow. (Tim Jones photo)

The first key to categorizing snowshoes is in how the binding (the part that holds your boot) is attached to the deck (the platform that keeps you from sinking into the snow). Here’s how you tell in an instant if a snowshoe is going to be better for running/racing or backcountry/general snowshoeing: simply pick up the snowshoe by the binding. If the tail of the snowshoe immediately drops without resistance (imagine the tail of the shoe staying on the snow as you pick up your foot), that’s a backcountry/general use snowshoe. If the tail of the snowshoe wants to lift along with the binding, that is the hallmark of a snowshoe that’s better for running/racing and use on packed snow. We’ll explain these distinctions more clearly in a moment.

The other key characteristic is the size of the deck. Basically, a larger snowshoe provides more flotation but weighs more. Racing/running snowshoes are usually as small and lightweight as possible. Remember, they are generally used on packed trails, so flotation isn’t as important. While some “general purpose” snowshoes are quite small (for smaller, lighter people who don’t carry a heavy pack and don’t break trail in deep snow), most “backcountry” snowshoes are larger to provide more flotation.

You’ll notice we haven’t talked at all yet about materials. Frankly, we’ve tried great snowshoes with aluminum frames and synthetic decking, and great snowshoes molded of composites or plastic. That’s a matter of preference. Then there are details like ease of binding use, amount and placement of traction, extras like heel lifts. All those are decisions you’ll have to deal with eventually before you  plunk down your hard-earned cash. But the key to finding the right snowshoe is starting in the right general category for what you want to do.

A "tight" or "fixed" toe cord lifts the tail to the shoe when the boot is lifted. This keeps the snowshoe from flopping forward when running but can also flip snow up onto the wearer. Some toe cords are tighter than others; these are about mid-range, (David Shedd photo)

The Toe Cord Conundrum

The point of attachment between the binding and the deck on a snowshoe is technically called the “toe cord. ” The term is a  holdover from the days when snowshoes were made of wood and rawhide and the feet were held to the shoe by, well, cord. As noted above most modern snowshoes for adults come either with “rotating” or “pivoting”  toe cords (also called “axles” by some manufacturers), which allow the snowshoe deck to pivot freely and the tail of the snowshoe to stay on the snow while you lift the toe, or “tight” (sometimes called “fixed”) toe cords which hold the deck more firmly so the tail drops only a little, if at all, when you pick up the shoe.

Tight/fixed toe cords work best on hardpacked snow and are especially popular with snowshoe racers/runners because the tails can’t flop forward as you run (which can easily trip you up). But they have three huge disadvantages for general use in a variety of conditions. First, you must always pick up the weight of the entire snowshoe and any snow that’s on it with each step. That can get tiring quickly, especially in deep, heavy, wet snow. Second, tight toe cords have a nasty tendency to flip snow up with each step onto the user’s legs and back (and even down the back of your neck). Nice for keeping you cool in a race, not so good for staying dry and comfortable on a long wilderness trek in untracked snow. One of the major snowshoe companies calls their tight toecord a “live action hinge.” One of our testers who has tried these particular snowshoes calls them “wicked flippahs.” And third, in deep snow a tight toe cord tends to make it more likely that the tip of the snowshoe will get caught as you step forward (particularly under a crust), which can make YOU the “wicked flippah”!

The tails of these larger snowshoes stay on the snow when you lift the tip to take a step. That lets any snow on them slide off. They work well on crust as shown here but even better in untracked snow. (Tim Jones photo)

By contrast, rotating toe cords allow the tail of the snow to drop so snow slides off with each step, which also causes the tip to easily lift up and over the snow, reducing faceplants. You never pick up the full weight of the shoe–the tail slides along on the snow. This is a real advantage with the larger, longer shoes typically used for backcountry travel in untracked snow. Shoes that pivot freely are a bit harder to maneuver (there’s no “reverse” ) but they are a far better choice for backcountry use and general snowshoeing.

Our Executive Editor  Tim Jones writes a syndicated newspaper  column called Active Outdoors.  A couple of years ago, Tim received an email from a reader complaining that, every time he tried to use his snowshoes, they banged his shins. He asked what he was doing wrong. The answer, of course, was that he was using the wrong snowshoes for what he wanted to do. Further questioning established that this reader was using snowshoes to run for winter exercise. He also happened to be very tall (6-feet 4 inches). Every time he took a long running stride,  the tail of the snowshoe swung forward and the toe of the shoe banged him in the shin. His snowshoes obviously had a full rotating toe cord and were, simply, the wrong snowshoe for what he wanted to do.

On the other end of the scale, Kate Goodin, one of our ace gear testers, and the lead writer for our forthcoming Kids’ Snowshoe Review tells us: “My first pair of snowshoes were awful. I tolerated them for two years because I loved snowshoeing and didn’t know there were options. They had VERY tight toe cords with just enough swing to give a real catapult effect. They flung snow between my legs, up my back, onto the back of my head and, often, down the back of my jacket as it came back to earth from on high. After every snowshoe outing, my thighs were red, raw, and frozen. It was not pleasant in the least. Discovering snowshoes with full rotating toe cords was like discovering you could buy a car with a roof to keep the snow off.”

Needless to say, the EasternSlopes.com editorial staff  strongly recommends a freely pivoting, “rotating” toe cord for the highly variable snow conditions we encounter in the east. It’s simply a better all-purpose design. If you are going to run a lot on your snowshoes, stick mainly to packed trails and don’t mind getting pelted with snow with each step, choose “tight” toe cords. And if you want to do a lot running and occasional backcountry use, well, not all “tight” toe cords are created equal. Some are tighter than others, flip more snow than others.

The one exception to that rule is if you do most of your hiking in thick softwoods, where you’re likely to have to clamber over a lot of  blowdowns.  This is the one time that a tighter toe cord can be a help; it makes it easier to get the snowshoe over a downed tree, and the snow is often not as deep in those areas.  Think carefully before you decide that you fit this category, though; if you hike a ways through fields or open hardwoods to get to those areas, you’ll be so tired before you get to the woods that you won’t be able to get over the downed trees anyway!

In his photo, you can actually see the snow sliding off the deck of this snowshoe as the boot is lifted and the tail stays on the snow. That's one huge advantage of a full rotating toe cord.(Tim Jones photo)

Size Matters

Every snowshoe manufacturer and even some retailers offer charts to help you pick the right size snowshoe for you.  They are always based on weight, which is absolutely correct. The more you weigh, the more flotation you need. And bigger snowshoes mean more surface area and more flotation.

For running on packed trails, the rule of thumb is simple: choose the smallest shoe you can possibly get away with. Smaller shoes are lighter and less cumbersome, will let you travel faster and farther in ideal conditions. General use is another matter entirely.

In our not-so-humble opinion, most size charts for picking snowshoes err on the small side for general use. Yes, smaller snowshoes offer a weight advantage, and a snowshoe that’s too big for the user can make for an awkward stride and uncomfortable walking. But it appears to us that most snowshoe size charts are generally biased toward packed trails. That is, after all, where most folks apparently go snowshoeing.

However, untracked snow and a backpack full of winter gear demand larger snowshoes. We strongly  feel that, no matter how small you are, if you ever intend to step into untracked snow, especially wearing a backpack, you shouldn’t even consider a 21-inch shoe (often sold as “women’s” models).  Most women will do better with a 25-inch shoe for all around use, most men with a 30-inch. If you are a larger person or carrying a heavy pack regularly, or hike in an area that often has deep, light snow, you may need to consider larger still.

In other words, we generally recommend putting yourself on the low to middle end of the size chart. If you are shading toward the upper end of the recommended weight, go a size larger. That will give you the flexibility to carry a pack and deal with deep, untracked snow. Modern snowshoes aren’t all that heavy, so the weight penalty for going up a size isn’t all that bad, anyway.

Snowshoes come in all sizes, shapes and colors, finding the right ones for you takes some thought--but the results are all fun. (Tim Jones photo)

One thing to watch out for when upsizing snowshoes is width. Too wide a shoe can make walking with a natural gait difficult (like  the traditional “bearpaws”, which had you walking like a cowboy after a long day on a barrel-shaped horse). Some snowshoes are shaped to “nest” as one is moved forward of the other. We strongly recommend trying these on snow before you buy to make sure the shape of the shoe works with your natural stride.

Other Considerations

Beyond toe cords and overall size, there are some other considerations that make a specific pair of snowshoes right—or wrong—for you.

One of the biggest factors we encounter when testing a variety of snowshoes is ease of use. You’d be amazed at the differences that you might not notice without comparing models side-by-side. Snowshoe bindings should be easy to get into and out of even with frigid fingers inside bulky gloves. That said, most snowshoe bindings have a bit of a learning curve and some very good ones need adjustment prior to being taken out into the snow. Our advice when picking snowshoes is to wear your biggest, most cumbersome gloves and see if you can work the binding with them. If you can’t quickly learn to do that in a warm shop or your own living room, you are probably going to have trouble out in the snow when it’s below zero and the wind is howling.

Still on the subject of bindings, some are made to hold your boot more firmly than others. The less your foot moves side to side in a binding, the more control you are going to have on sidehills, which are often the toughest challenge for snowshoes. That’s why real backcountry snowshoes will frequently have beefier (and sometimes heavier) bindings than general purpose or recreational shoes. This is something to consider if you intend to tackle steeper hills and tougher trails.

All modern snowshoes come with traction crampons built in, but some are much more aggressive than others. On the MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes, for example, essentially the whole frame provides traction. The Tubbs Couloir snowshoes we tested two years ago (similar to the new Mountaineer) have a total of 16 1-1/2-inch spikes under the toe and heel of the boot. Other models have much less traction. Obviously traction counts on steep, sidehilled or icy terrain. Our general advice if you are ever going to leave behind flat terrain is to err on the side of having too much traction rather than too little.

Renting snowshoes at a Nordic Center (here at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont) is a wonderful way to try before you buy. Just be sure to try them off the packed trail if that's what you intend to do on your own. (Warner Shedd photo)

Finally, some snowshoes, particularly backcountry models, have heel lifts which flip up to provide support for your heel as you are climbing steep terrain. This not only prevents fatigued calves but also helps to keep crampons engaged in the snow to prevent slipping. It’s a nice feature if you are going to climb steep slopes (the longer and steeper the slope, the more you need it). But if you stick mainly to flat or gently rolling terrain, you will probably never use it. Extras add to the cost and weight of a snowshoe; think about what you intend to do, and you’ll have a better idea of whether they’re worth it for you.

Try Before You Buy

Our final recommendation is to try snowshoes on snow before your buy them. Lots of retail stores, Nordic ski resorts, lodges and recreation programs rent snowshoes. Winter Trails Day in early January offers a host of free snowshoe events. Charity events like the Tubbs Romp To Stomp Out Breast Cancer have snowshoes galore to try. And you can always borrow from friends . . .unless, of course, they want to be out playing in the snow, too!

The Kifaru "Circus Tent" has lots of space and woodstove for warm and comfortable camping in cold weather. We'll be setting it up as part of our Lightweight Winter camping seminar 2012. (Susan Marean photo)

Every January (for 2012, it’s January 7), the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, Vermont offers “Winter Skills Day” which is a chance to comfortably and safely learn outdoor skills that will help you get the most enjoyment from winter. They offer two sessions, morning and afternoon, so you can take two different classes in one day. Price for each seminar  (including lunch) is $35-40 per person depending on the seminar.

The seminars offered this year include: “Principles of Winter Survival and Winter Clothing,” which is something everyone who explores outdoors in winter should understand(and not bad information for anyone who drives in rural areas to know!); “Building Snow Shelters” –haven’t you always wanted to build an igloo or a quinzee in your backyard and sleep in it? This is also essential survival knowledge if you are ever somehow stranded in the winter wilds; “Introduction to Backcountry Skiing,” which will focus on off-trail travel on moderate terrain, “Icefishing 101 (icefishing, particularly combined with snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, Nordic skating and winter camping, is a whole lot of fun); “Basics of Dogsledding,” (you can leave Fido at home; they provide the dogs and sleds), and “Winter Fire Skills” (please re-read Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” if you don’t think this skill is important to safe winter travel).

Setting up a "cold camp" at the Hulbert Outdoor Center's Winter Skills Day in 2011, (Susan Marean Shedd photo)

And, just as they did last year, they are also offering two seminars on Winter Camping. The morning session is on “Traditional Winter Camping.” It’s  taught by Andy Williams who is a very experienced winter traveler in the wild country of northern Canada. Andy  is an affable teacher and a pleasure to spend time with. He will show you a full set up of traditional gear, including wooden toboggans, woodstoves and sturdy canvas tents, and how to use it to travel comfortably and safely through the winter wilds. If you are going to camp in one spot for several days or more, this is an extremely comfortable way to go. Andy has the depth of knowledge that only comes from vast experience, and, no matter how much you’ve camped in the winter, you will learn something from him. And if you are just beginning to wrap your head around the notion of winter camping, this is a wonderful way to see how it was done before the onslaught of synthetic materials changed the world.

In sharp contrast to this traditional method of winter camping, EasternSlopes.com editors David Shedd and Tim Jones are once again teaching a session on “Lightweight Winter Camping,” showing the most modern gear and techniques available. Most of what we are showing is the stuff we use to stay warm and happy while traveling (relatively) light and fast on snowshoes or skis with a big backpack and/or small pulk (a lightweight plastic sled with a rigid pulling harness). It’s just like summer backpacking except there aren’t any bugs (and the snow is usually deeper though that may not be the case this year if this “winter that isn’t” continues).

We'll also be setting up a Titanium Goat tipi that sleeps three and weighs less than 7 pounds—WITH the woodstove! (Susan Marean Shedd photo)

Ours is a very hands-on seminar. As a group, we’ll be setting up two “cold” (unheated) winter tents camps with tents from REI and Easton Mountain Products. We’ll also be setting up at least two lightweight nylon tipis, possibly three...with woodstoves. Yes, you heard that correctly. Lightweight, spacious nylon tipi-style tents with woodstoves. One of the tipis we use is made by Titanium Goat. It will sleep two comfortably with extra space for gear. The whole rig weighs less than 7 pounds WITH the wood stove and stovepipe. We’ll also set up the “Circus Tent,” an 8-man tipi from Kifaru that Tim has owned for more than 20 years and used in the winter wilds from the Adirondacks to northern Labrador. We’ll also be showing some of the latest in backcountry skis and snowshoes, pads, sleeping bags, lights, stoves, cooking gear, and more (our thanks to the manufacturers named above, as well as LL Bean, Mountainsmith, Lowa, GSI Outdoors, Polarmax, Coleman, MSR, Primus, Leki, Life-Link, Therm-A-Rest, Jetboil, Black Diamond, Underwater Kinetics, Sierra Designs, Patagonia, Red Ledge, Revision Military, Osprey, Kelty, TSL Outdoor, Hillsound, Outdoor Research, Katoohla, and others for providing samples for you to check out). None of the gear we are showing is custom made; it’s all available in stores, through catalogs, or on the web. So, anyone who has the desire can fully gear themselves up for winter camping, and we’ll show you how.

We’ll also help participants assess any gear they already have for winter suitability…bring your favorite toys with you!  After this course, you’ll know everything you need to do your first backyard or roadside winter campout comfortably and safely. From there, you can progress in increments to full-on winter travel and camping.

All the seminars offered at the Winter Skills Day are by pre-registration only: visit their website for a full PDF course description, call 802-333-3405 or email Lynn_daly@alohafoundation.org. If you have any questions about the lightweight winter camping seminar, don’t hesitate to email : timjones@easternslopes.com or dshedd@easternslopes.com.

Lake Morey Skate-a-thon, Too

While all this is going on at Hulbert Center, the beautiful Lake Morey Resort  just down the road teams up with Nordic Skater to run the all-day Skate-a-thon where, for a $25 donation for adults ($15 for kids) they’ll fit you with Nordic skates, teach you how to use them, send you out on the longest cleared skating track in North America around Lake Morey. That’s assuming we have safe ice by then, of course…but, at least Mother Nature is cooperating as of this moment!

If you haven’t tried Nordic Skating, you owe it to yourself. It’s like cross-country skate-skiing on ice, easy-to-learn, a great aerobic workout and just plain fun.

We hope to see you at the Winter Skills Day!

Gifts that get used! Any of these gifts ($8-$120) are likely to please an active outdoors enthusiast. Merino wool zip-neck top from Icebreakers, Leki trekking poles, 3 AAA headlamp from Princeton Tec, Steripen water purifier, Swiss Army knife, Insect Shield bandana, Kahtoola Microspikes,.(Tim Jones photo)

Let’s face it…outdoors enthusiasts are all about the toys. When hubby says “Honey, I really NEED that $400 tent; it’ll take 4 ounces out of my pack weight!”, what he’s really saying is “That thing is SO cool, and I want to play with it!” It makes them easy to buy for…a gift certificate to LL Bean, EMS, REI, or a million other places will allow them to  indulge. But what if you want to actually have a package for them to open?

The real problem is that anyone who is contemplating buying a gift for an active outdoors enthusiast is putting themselves in real danger of getting it wrong. You can buy something that isn’t outdoor related and watch them try to think of something polite to say (“What a lovely new tie…I can use it to hang my lantern!”).  Or, you can buy something outdoorsy—with the attendant potential for getting it wrong. There’s a flip side, too; enthusiasts who buy “agenda gifts” to try to encourage non-believers to get more active are walking on dangerously thin ice (trust us, we speak from experience on this, and have the scars to prove it). If you are going to buy an outdoorsy gift for someone, make sure it’s something they, not you, would like.

Here at EasternSlopes.com, we get to test a whole bunch of new gear (heaven for a gear junkie). And, we have lots of long-proven gear as well. So here are our carefully considered suggestions to avoid gift-giving disasters. Chances are, most active outdoors enthusiasts would use and enjoy these and picking them isn’t as difficult as choosing something highly specialized like a tent or backpack or skis. And, for the AO enthusiast that wants to subtly  encourage someone to get out there, some of the items are “everyday life friendly”; who wouldn’t appreciate a way to keep bugs away, or a light they could carry in the car and use in their hands or on their head?

One-Size-Fits-All Gifts

Trekking Poles ($50 to $120): If the active outdoors enthusiast you are gifting is still using old ski poles for hiking, or isn’t using poles at all, consider giving a pair of modern, adjustable trekking poles. It’s hard to describe how much difference they can make. When the going gets rough or slippery, they are a remarkable aid to balance,  saving you from many a fall. On long downhills they help ease your knees. They can serve as an emergency tent poles and fishing rods. And when you don’t need them, they collapse down and ride on your pack (or in your car, where they can literally be a lifesaver when you have to navigate an icy parking lot). There are many poles on the market and all of them are better than old ski poles. Our personal favorite is the Leki Corklite Makalu Ultralite ($120). They aren’t cheap, but they have comfortable, versatile grips, an easy-to-use external locking system and snow baskets are a cheap ($8) add-on.  A great budget choice is the Gabel Mont Blanc Lite ($75), which has external locks and includes snow baskets. And, for the backcountry ski enthusiast, the Easton CTR-65 ion($99) is an ultralight, 2-piece external lock pole with an extended grip; perfect for when they’re skinning up a steep hill.

The Steripen quickly turns water from almost any wilderness source into safe drinking water. (Tim Jones photo)

SteriPEN($50-100): Safe drinking water is essential for all outdoor activities. All untreated water sources are suspect and can carry a host of diseases. You have two choices when playing outdoors: either carry the water you need or treat the water you find. Of all the water solutions we’ve tried, the SteriPEN is the lightest, most compact, and easiest to use. It takes just moments to purify a liter of water with the ultraviolet light. Instant safe drinking water from almost any source, anywhere!

Waterproof Camera ($100 and up) The newer ones cost more, the older designs still work. Taking pictures make any outdoor adventure more memorable and these are wonderful cameras for taking along anywhere they can get wet, and the newest models are shockproof as well. You can pick up a refurbished model on eBay or Amazon with a warranty for relatively cheap money and not worry about how abused it gets…that’s a great option for your budding Eagle Scout. For the more serious photographer, new models from Olympus, Canon, Nikon, and all the other big names have 12 megapixel and up sensors and will take photography-contest quality photos in the right hands (if your outdoorsman doesn’t have the skills, think about a gift certificate to a local photography workshop!).

Bheestie Bag ($20): Speaking of electronics, most of us have lost at least one piece of e-gear to water damage, and probably more due to long-term corrosion. This slick little item reminds you to drop your phone, camera, iPod, whatever into it after you’ve been in wet or snowy conditions. It’s got a pouch of superabsorbent beads that suck any humidity out of it. Get caught in a unexpected rainshower when running? In goes your music player, and it has a chance of surviving. If you’re a parent, this is a stocking stuffer that could pay for itself many times over!

Clever Wraps ($10-15, packs of 5):  We tend to stick our phones, etc., into Ziploc baggies, which works in most conditions. But, if you want a more tailored option, or want a little extra protection for that rafting trip through the Grand Canyon, these do work. We wouldn’t use them for sticking in our bike jersey pocket on a daily ride; they’re pretty pricey for that use, and definitely overkill, but they’ll give you some extra security on a big, wet day.

If you want to see someone light up, put one of these in their stocking! (David Shedd photo)

LED Headlamp: ($15 to $100): The most useful, versatile light we’ve found  for the outdoors in general and especially for the long nights of cold-season camping is an LED headlamp.  You can use it hands-free or carry it like a flashlight.  And, if your enthusiast has one that’s more than a couple of years old, virtually ANY new one will be a big improvement…the technology has changed a lot.  Two notable new models for winter are the Black Diamond Storm ($50) and the Underwater Kinetics Vizion Arctic ($45).  Both have technology designed to recycle heat from the LED to warm the batteries; that translates to significantly longer battery life in the cold. The Black Diamond is the tech freak’s dream: 2 sets of white LEDs that both have infinitely variable output, and maximum blowtorch level of 100 lumens, plus red LEDs for close up work that preserves your night vision. The Underwater Kinetics is the absolute opposite; it has two levels (65 and 35 lumens), and uses a rotating filter to diffuse the light or give you red output. BUT, it’s about as bombproof, bulletproof, waterproof, and idiotproof as it gets, and has the added advantage that the light capsule comes out of the housing and doubles as a lantern so you can play cards in your winter cabin.

With a magnet to secure it to your car, an articulated rotating head, and bright LED/strobe modes, the Streamlight Knucklehead can put light exactly where you need it (David Shedd photo)

Streamlight Knucklehead (from about $65, depending on model): Here’s a great one for the non-outdoor enthusiast that just MIGHT get borrowed. Hands down, the best light we’ve ever seen to keep in the car. The 360 degree articulating head means you can aim the light wherever you want it. The magnet means you can stick it on your car’s fender and aim it backwards as a warning strobe, or aim the light to where you’re changing your tire, or even stick it on the hood to use as an emergency headlight when yours short out. If you’re feeling wealthy, get the rechargeable version with the clip; you can mount it permanently in the car and ALWAYS know you have light when you need it, plus can attach it to your belt if you’re working away from the car.

Swiss Army Knife ($20-$50): We’ve had a Swiss Army knife of some sort made by either Wenger or Victorinox in our pockets almost every day of our adult lives and wouldn’t consider going for a hike without one. Choose a basic model like the Wenger Commander ($25) or Victorinox Tourist ($23) or something a little fancier like the Victorinox Camper ($30) or Wenger Traveler ($45). Either way, it’ll get carried and used. Particularly if you get a model with a corkscrew…

An $8 lifesaver! The insect protection in this bandana is certified for 70 washings. (Tim Jones photo)

Insect Shield Bandana ($8-$12): We doubt we’ll ever leave the house again between April and October without one of these. When the bugs aren’t out, it rides in your pocket like any other bandana and serves all the same purposes. When the bugs show up, use it as a headscarf or neckerchief, and the bugs stay away from your face. Protection lasts for 70 washings—give another one for next year!  Of course there’s a whole lineup of Insect Shield clothing, too, which we’ve tested extensively and reviewed; everyone loves socks for Christmas, and what better than a pair that will keep ticks away!

GSI Pinnacle Dualist ($60) We find it hard to imagine anyone who plays outdoors who wouldn’t enjoy this compact cooking/eating kit for two. It’s just plain cute, and very very functional whether you want hot soup on a picnic or are cooking in a backcountry camp.  Pair it with a tiny canister stove and one of those Swiss Army knives that will fit inside it, and you have a totally self-contained system for eating anything everywhere.  We keep it in the car for impromptu picnics; give it to your favorite non-AO enthusiast, and maybe they’ll start wanting to picnic farther afield (or, perhaps you can borrow it once in a while…)!

Dr. Drip makes it easy to get that caffeine fix in any situation! (David Shedd photo)

Dr. Drip ($8.99/5 pack): Got a java junkie on your list? For years, we’ve searched for an easy way to make quality coffee in camp, and finally found it. Dr. Drip is a single-serving all-in-one coffee/filter/carrier setup. Open one, put it over your cup, put hot water through it, and you’ve got cafe-quality coffee in minutes. We carry a few inside a Primus EtaSolo on backpacking trips or day-long snowshoe jaunts (yes, we know that hot cocoa is more traditional for that, but some people HAVE to have their coffee); pull over by the side of the trail, and in 5 minutes you’ve got your hot caffeine fix!

Windbloc Fleece Hat ($20): Fleece hats are good: lightweight, warm, comfortable. But Windbloc Fleece is even better, especially if you are out for a long time. Many companies make windstopper versions. Look at the L.L. Bean Wind Challenger Fleece Hat ($19.50)  as a great example. Even warmer, the Arctic Shield Fleece Beanie($14) uses a radiant barrier to hold heat in (weakness:  it doesn’t breathe as well as plain fleece, so isn’t as good for highly aerobic activities).

Highgear Traildrop ($50):  Sort of an electronic Swiss Army knife, the Traildrop is a watch, thermometer, electronic compass, stopwatch, and level in one neat little package, allowing you to replace multiple items.  We’ve used it for checking temperatures to determine sleeping bag ratings, to time how long isobutane canisters run in real-world conditions, how long it takes to boil water, you  name it.  Being throwbacks to the dinosaurs, we’re still not fans of electronic compasses, but having a backup is always a good thing.  The level…well, we haven’t figured out a trail use for it, but it’s handy for setting up the gas grill for tailgating.  It’s always clipped on one pack or another, ready when we need it.

Air Grill Blower ($10):  One of our favorite “luxuries” when we’re backpacking, the imaginatively named “Blower” does exactly that…blows air. Anyone who has put their head sideways on the ground to blow at the base of a fire knows how miserable that is, and how quickly you start to feel dizzy, even when the fire isn’t blowing smoke in your face. This nifty tool weighs almost nothing (4.1 ounces), and allows you to blow a steady, controllable stream of air exactly where you want it. In dry conditions, it’s great; in wet, invaluable. Useful for backyard grilling, too!

Whatever knife you have, the Sterling will sharpen it quickly and easily (David Shedd photo)

Sterling Knife Sharpener($15):  We’re freaks for sharp knives, and have tried pretty much every tool to get them sharp and keep them that way. But with all those toys, we doubt there’s been a single backpacking trip in the last decade where we didn’t carry a Sterling with us. Small, light, ridiculously easy to use, it’ll sharpen your knives in the field or the kitchen. There’s nobody who can’t use one or more of these; 30 seconds, and you can go from dull to sharp on virtually any knife.  One in the kitchen, one in the backpack, one in the car or tool kit…you get the idea. At this price, you can own several, and you can’t go wrong. A simple, brilliant design with a lifetime warranty.

Small, Medium, Large . . .

Road ID ($20-30; ): It can (and does) happen: You are out for a bike ride or other outdoor adventure and end up in the emergency room—and no one knows who you are, who to contact, or what special medical needs you might have . . . Road ID solves that nicely and is comfortable enough to wear 24/7. The Elite is the highest end model; there are other models for wrist, shoes, you name it.

Little Hotties Toe Warmer Insoles ($15 + heat packs): These can be hard to find (they aren’t even on their website), but are worth it for any kind of foot travel in cold weather. These are NOT the disposable heater insoles, but a thick, supportive foam insole with a plug where you can insert an adhesive toe warmer and walk, skate, or ski in comfort.

If you hike in the winter, you need these traction aids. (Tim Jones photo)

Kahtoola MICROspikes ($60) By far the best traction aids ever devised for hiking on icy trails (or sidewalks). One step down from crampons, miles ahead of other slip-on traction aids when the going gets nasty. If you hike in the winter, you need these. (For the non-outdoors enthusiast, a pair of YakTrax to keep in the car shows that you really care about their safety.)

Lightweight Longies($25-$80) Whether you choose polyester or wool, lightweight longies tops and bottoms are essential equipment and no one can have too many sets. We’re now totally hooked on the superfine merino wool versions from Icebreaker  and Minus33, but we’ve happily used cheaper polyester from EMS, Marmot, Patagonia, Hot Chillys and others for years. The waffle pattern cotton ones at the local discount store? Free is overpriced for them.

Any of these under the tree will warm the heart (and other parts!) of your favorite outdoors enthusiast or not-so-enthusiast.  Don’t forget birthdays, either…and if you’re the hopeful recipient, you can always print this, highlight a few favorites, and leave it around the house!

Even on a day of cold, blowing snow and rotten light, the Revision Desert Locust Extreme goggles allowed me to ski confidently (Susan Marean Shedd photo)

Seriously.

Wearing Revision Military’s Desert Locust Goggles without a helmet can be hazardous to someone else’s health.

Time to backtrack. After my wonderful experience with Revision’s “Sawfly” glasses, I wandered through their catalog and ran across the Desert Locust goggle. Pretty cool looking, optimized for helmet use, and with the usual Revision “to military specs and beyond!” (sorry, Buzz Lightyear) build quality. And the “Extreme” version ($99 with neutral gray lens; extra lenses $28/each) has sealed double lenses to avoid fogging in cold weather…hmm. Definitely a “must-try”, particularly for backcountry and sidecountry skiing!

Now, here’s where the health part comes in. I took them out of the box, put them on, and my sweetheart Susan hurt herself laughing. Honest. This is why you shouldn’t even put these things ON without a helmet. Naked, they’re about as wide as J. Lo’s…sunglasses. And, frankly, they didn’t fit all that well…they gapped around my nose. NOT a promising start. But, the people at Revision are serious detail freaks, so maybe I should put on my helmet and try them that way.

You can't claim you weren't warned; these goggles are NOT meant to be used without a helmet, or seen by anyone else that way! (David Shedd photo)

Whoa! WHAT a difference. Goodbye gaps. The angle of the strap changed when the helmet was added into the equation. The goggles were pulled a bit wider, and the fit changed dramatically. These goggles SHOULD NOT be worn without a helmet.

With my trusty old carbon fiber Leedom, they looked a little . . . well . . . menacing. I looked in the mirror and thought “Hey, I look a little badass!” When I pointed this out to Susan, she hurt herself laughing again. Apparently, even with a helmet on, these things can be dangerous to someone else’s health. Also apparently, I’ve got about as much chance of being badass as Elmer Fudd.

But…the military-goggle connection does have some validity. This is serious eye protection, with serious quality. Fit on my helmet is excellent, with minimal gap showing between the helmet and the googles. Clarity of the lenses is spectacular. December and January in the Northeast means “flat light”…the sun is hiding behind the mountain, making it hard to see contours on the slopes.  The usual solution is a yellow or vermillion lens, but I personally hate yellow, and at that point the Desert Locust didn’t offer vermillion. So, neutral gray it was. And, wonder of wonders, I was able to see at least as well as my companions on some gray days that had everyone concerned about visibility. Apparently, the clarity of the optics allows for greater contrast than you would expect from neutral gray.

With this quiver of lenses, you can be set for everything from night skiing to flat light to snowblind conditions on Everest (David Shedd photo)

After several months of playing with the neutral gray, though, Revision brought out a vermillion lens for the Desert Locust. True to form, the optical quality was spectacular; so much so that on a backcountry skiing trip in Quebec’s Gaspesie National Park, another writer and REAL backcountry ski expert took one look through them, gave them a “wow!” rating, and immediately asked where he could order a pair.  They’re simply that good…and yes, he’s a helmet wearer.

Even on bright days, the vermillion lenses don’t leave my eyes tired after a long day of skiing, as some lenses have done over the years; I used them into April, and even on bluebird days didn’t feel the need to change back to neutral gray (although I like neutral gray on a day like that; color accuracy is greater, allowing you to really enjoy the beauty!). For night skiing, or when you get caught by darkness skinning back to your lodge at the end of a day of backcountry, it’s a matter of seconds to pop in a clear lens and have full vision with eye protection.

Beyond the optical quality, though, is the fogging resistance. On one particularly cold day at Sunday River, I was skiing with a couple of lunatics who thought it was a great idea to ski through the snowguns at speed. They frequently had to stop because they couldn’t see a bloody thing through the fog on their goggles. My goggles, on the other hand, were perfectly clear (other than the ice balls on them from the snowguns). Intrigued, we went in for hot chocolate and put all three sets of goggles on the table next to each other; they all fogged, but mine cleared dramatically faster than the other two. These guys don’t tolerate poor quality in anything they buy, and their goggles were no exception, but they simply couldn’t measure up. Sadly for one of them, though, he doesn’t wear a helmet, so he’s stuck with what he’s got.

There was one problem with my Desert Locusts. On my first pair, the foam that seals them to your face became damaged from putting them up and down on a helmet. An email to Revision got an instantaneous, extremely apologetic reply. They were well aware of the problem, had thought this older design had been cleared from the pipeline. They immediately sent a replacement pair. The new seal has a soft cloth layer over the foam and, after a full season of use, is showing no signs of wear. Good companies make great products; GREAT companies make great products and stand behind them when something goes wrong. Kudos to Revision on this one!

Our only remaining complaint is that the storage bag that comes with the goggles is, um, not user friendly; it works, but it’s a pain in the neck.  An extra quarter inch added to all dimensions would make it a lot easier to deal with (hint, hint, Revision…).

Not every product is right for everyone, and the Desert Locust Extreme is no exception. If you don’t wear a helmet, don’t waste your time; they simply won’t work. And, it’s likely that they won’t fit some helmet/face combinations…but we haven’t found any yet they haven’t worked with. If you’re a backcountry/sidecountry addict, we can’t imagine anything that will make you feel more confident in the trees than a goggle that survives bullet impacts. While that level of protection isn’t necessarily needed on the slopes, we’ve seen enough shattered lenses after crashes to take comfort in the durability of these. Besides…even if the Desert Locusts can’t make you look badass, there’s gotta be some street cred to wearing bulletproof military goggles. Paging Mr. Rambo…

You don't have to be young—or even an experienced skier—to try snowbiking at Pats Peak! (Tim Jones photo)

Though we occasionally write stories for EasternSlopes.com, we are also loyal readers of this publication. We enjoy looking at the many different ideas for getting outdoors and having fun. Some of the things other people do hold little interest for us. But surprisingly often, we find ourselves inspired to do something we thought we had given up, or even to try something totally new and different.

Now, neither of us are skiers. Warner has done some cross-country skiing in the past, but very little in recent years. Edie has never really skied much. But we still read the stories about ski gear, and downhill ski resorts and, when we read Tim’s story on Snowbiking, we both thought that looked like FUN! Most things that fit in the fun category are illegal, immoral, fattening – or dangerous! However, snowbiking looked like it might be interesting and FUN, without being any of those no-no’s listed above. Well, the jury was still out on “dangerous.” FUN or not, taking into account our advanced ages and with our limited ski experience, we both also questioned whether or not we could try snowbiking safely. But one thing EasternSlopes.com has taught us is to never say “never.” So we contacted Tim, who responded with his usual enthusiasm, saying “Yes! Of course you can! ”  And, suddenly, we were committed to a snowbiking adventure.

Once we had our helmets and ski boots, we were ready to be fitted to our snowbikes. Instructors Ben and David made the process easy and fun. (Tim Jones photo)

On a warm(ish) day in late March we found ourselves at Pats Peak in Henniker, NH. We’ve visited a few downhill ski areas before in winter, but only as spectators. This was our first time as participants, and we both have to admit we were feeling some trepidations. However, we found it hard to hold onto any nervous feelings, given the atmosphere we found on the hill. They were celebrating spring with a Hawaiian-themed weekend, and the place was a madhouse. The staff was running around wearing Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts and leis (and some had on shorts!). A little chilly for us, but whatever floats your boat! Everybody was having such a good time. Everybody means a TON of people. Seemed to us that it was much more fun than actually going to Hawaii!

Our first stop was to get fitted for ski helmets. Neither of us had ever had one on our heads before and to our utter amazement they were truly comfortable. Well, that was a nice surprise! Now we understand why both Tim and David insist that everyone should wear helmets on the slopes. They are so comfortable you quickly forget you are wearing them, and with other people whizzing around you on skis and snowboards, there’s a definite safety benefit.

Then we got fitted for rental ski boots. Different story entirely. Miserable things! We saw people actually walking around in the them, and a couple of kids were running! We, however, could just barely walk, and we mean barely. Warner likened walking in ski boots to being a robot with stiff legs and iron boots. However, once the clunky things got buckled into the little tiny “footskis” you wear when snowbiking, they were fine and we (almost) forgot how clunky and miserable they felt when walking.

Riding up the carpet lift was the hardest part of snowbiking to learn. All you had to do was remember to get your little "foot skis" onto the moving carpet with the rest of you . . . (Tim Jones photo)

Suitably attired, we went outside and met our wonderful instructors, Ben and Dave. They were so nice to us! First, they fitted us to the Snowbikes–which look exactly like kids bikes with skis where the wheels would be. There’s a front ski attached to the handlebars so it pivots like a bike wheel, and another one under the heavily padded seat. As already noted, you wear little “footskis” so you can use your feet to stabilize yourself as you slide. Sitting on the flat snow without moving, the whole incongruous setup felt surprisingly stable and comfortable.

Of course in order to have FUN we had to move, and that meant learning how to steer and stop. The instructions for learning a snowbike are very simple, and the movements natural and comfortable. As a result, we learned the basics very fast. The obvious and instinctive way to steer would seem to be to turn the lead ski with the handlebars, but that’s not how it’s done. Instead, you steer by turning your head to look in the direction you want to go. The body naturally and instinctively leans very slightly in the same direction without you even having to think about it, and the bike goes in that direction, almost like magic. To stop, you simply turn your head farther to look backwards up the hill. It’s that easy! Snowbiking turned out to be safe, comfortable and, yes, FUN! With both feet firmly on the snow on their little footskis, and seated comfortably on the snowbike, there’s little chance of falling. In fact, neither of us took a spill while coming down the hill. Even if you did fall while going down the hill, tipping over onto the soft snow from a low sitting position is hardly something to be concerned about.

It only took a few minutes of instruction before we were ready to try the bunny slopes—our first experience at sliding down a ski hill! (Tim Jones photo)

The hardest part of the whole experience was getting on and off the carpet lift. It’s like a flat escalator, or those moving walkways in an airport and it conveys you slowly and comfortably at ground level up to the top of the gentle beginner slope. The only problem we found is that the “moving carpet” is quite narrow and you absolutely have to remember to get your footskis on the carpet part. If you don’t, you fall over—which can be a little embarrassing with people watching. Edie fell once on the durned lift, but even she admitted it was more funny than scary–more of  a slow-motion tip-over than a real fall.

Like anything else, snowbiking requires a bit of practice in order to get the hang of it. Warner found it difficult to remember to keep both arms extended straight rather than bending his elbows. However, after a few runs he found himself doing better at that, and correcting himself whenever he realized his arms were bent. You also have to remember to keep both knees clamped firmly against the padded seat of the snowbike so your feet and their little skis don’t splay out to the sides. That was far less difficult to remember than keeping the arms straight.

With Ben’s careful instruction and watchful guidance, in a few minutes we were making swooping turns down the bunny slope, getting right back on the carpet lift and riding up to do it all over again. It was both exciting and exhilarating and, yes, just plain FUN.

Once you are on the hill, it's time to refine your technique. Warner had trouble remembering to keep his arms straight! as our instructor is demonstrating (Tim Jones photo)

As we were learning on the bunny slope, we  had little kids whizzing around us having a great time. Watching the kids was part of the fun. One little girl in pink (she looked to be about 5) went flying straight down the hill with her father chasing after her  yelling “Wait! Wait!”. She arrived at the bottom, stopped neatly, and turned around to look back as he was racing after her as if to say, “What is your problem?”

By the time our hour lesson was over we had both made a goodly number of runs. We could have stayed longer, but we were both tired by then, and felt we’d made a good start on learning to snow bike. In fact, we even got a license that says we can do the bunny slope without supervision! Aren’t you impressed?

It’s almost December now, there’s snow on some of the ski hills and we’re looking forward to getting down to Pats Peak again, refreshing our snowbiking skills and wooshing down the slopes again. Maybe this time we’ll even take another lesson  and go up on the chair lift! Since neither of us has ever ridden a chairlift, we definitely want an instructor along for that. By the way, if you think you are too old to try something new like snowbiking, keep this in mind… Warner is 77, Edie is 76, and if we can do it so can you. Really, you will have a wonderful time, even if it isn’t Hawaiian weekend!

It was Hawaiian Weekend at Pats Peak and even this tiki statue seems to approve as we proudly display our new "Snowbike Licenses." (Tim Jones photo)

Hi-tech sleds like the Mad River Rocket take sledding to new heights. (Tim Jones photo)

Many active winter sports have a long learning curve. Sledding isn’t one of them.

To enjoy sledding, you simply get yourself to the top of a snow covered slope, then sit, belly flop or kneel on your conveyance and slide down. Repeat as many times as necessary to fill your fun reservoir.

There are basically three types of snow sleds—ones you can’t steer at all (tubes, saucers) ones you can maybe steer a little (most toboggans) and the ones that really put you in control of your destiny.

Out Of Control Fun

If you don’t have a sled of your own, snowtubing at any of the dozens of ski hills which offer lift-serviced tubing lanes is a great way to catch a whiff of the excitement. Part of the fun of snowtubing is that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when your instincts tell you that you are totally out of control in what your brain knows is a controlled and therefore safe environment. There’s no steering a snow tube, no controlling its speed. That’s the beauty of those tubing lanes they craft so carefully at ski resorts: you can fly within safe boundaries.

When Control Counts

“Wild” sledding is something different. When you are out in the real world, having to dodge other sledders, or even trees and rocks, it’s nice to have a little control of the situation—something you don’t get with a typical bargain basement plastic sled.

It’s not surprising that sledding has gone high-tech these days. I’m very familiar with three different models of modern steerable sleds (one of them, alas, no longer made) and I’ve gotta tell you, they are loads of fun. If you don’t have time to learn to ski, these steerable sleds and their first cousin the Snowbike are the way to get your adrenaline rush on snow.

The Airboard inflatable sled has "chines" on the bottom for steering. (Tim Jones photo)

Airborne on Airboard

The first high-tech sled I tried was the Swedish-made Airboard. They rent them and give introductory lessons at Smugglers Notch  in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Some ski resorts will allow you to use The Airboard on beginner terrain, most won’t. But the Airboard is light and easy to carry, so going up the hills under your own power and then sliding down provides both exercise and thrills.

The Airboard inflates like the tubes you tow behind a motorboat in summer. The air-cushion effect gives it a very comfortable ride and a nice “bounce effect” when you go over bumps. Smiles guaranteed. But, unlike most inflatable tubes, the Airboard has hard plastic “chines” on the base (much like a boat hull) that  let you carve turns in soft packed snow (a groomed ski slope is perfect) and powder. These chimes don’t do much on crust or ice, so beware . . .

There’s a very small learning curve with Airboards. Basically, you just lean to turn. It’s all pretty intuitive and you should have no problem getting the basics down enough to do it safely on an open, moderate slope. I found I actually tended to turn it too much.  You can control your speed by dragging your feet and, by turning across the hill, just as you would on skis.

The Hammerhead Sled is the High-tech, go anywhere version of the old "Flexible Flyer." (Tim Jones Photo)

Hammerheading

If you have fond memories of the old “Flexible Flyer” sled, you’re gonna go nuts over is newest, hi-tech incarnation, the Vermont-made  Hammerhead. Ruggedly built of aluminum tubing with a mesh deck that has a little “bounce” to it for comfort and rugged fiberglass and plastic skis, this is tough enough for riders of almost any size.

The Hammerhead steers in much the same way as the old Flexible Flyer with pivoting front arms, The skis are “railed” so they have an edge that bites into the snow for positive turning. This is the easiest of the new sleds to steer and the best on firmer snow. You can swap out the rear skis choosing narrower for more control on hard snow or wider for more floatation in soft snow, but this isn’t really a power machine. In my experience, the Hammerhead works best on firm but not hard snow. Take it to a slope that other people have packed with snow tubes and plastic sleds and everyone will envy you. One of the greatest experiences in my sledding career was coming down Vermont Route 108 (which is closed in the winter and had been packed by snowmobilers) from the top of Smuggler’s Notch to the parking lot at Stowe on a Hammerhead. The Lincoln Gap Road near Sugarbush is my next target for a Hammerhead adventure.

Sad About The Mad

The Mad River Rocket is so steerable, you can even rip a powder line through the trees! (Tim Jones photo)

The Mad River Rocket, which was also a Vermont product, is possibly the greatest “wild sledding device” ever invented. I say “was” because, sadly, it appears that the Mad River Rocket company is no longer. It also appears that The Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, VT is your first best hope of finding one. A careful internet search found no other options . . .though I’m sure used ones will eventually show up on eBay and Craigslist.

Too bad, it’s a great product and I hope someone buys the molds and patents and brings it back!

The Rocket has so much flotation and is so steerable you can even use it to sled in the woods, neatly carving turns around trees. It’s the only sled I’ve ever tried that really feels comfortable in tight woods.

You ride the Rocket by kneeling on it and tightening a strap over your thighs, which welds you to the sled, and steer by leaning and dragging your hands. Not the most comfortable riding position (especially for older folks with creaky knees). But the control you have is utterly amazing. Kids are doing jumps and flips with them . . .you can find videos on the Mad River Rocket website which is still live but not being updated.

The Mad River Rocket excels in soft snow, doesn’t do as well on packed or groomed. As an added bonus, if you’re a bit handy you can build a harness that turns it into a very serviceable pulk for winter trekking.

My advice: if you can find a Mad River Rocket Killer B sled, grab it. You’ll have a ball with it and your kids and grandkids will thank you for the opportunity to play with it.

Weezing in Winter?

We haven’t had a chance to try them  yet, but TSL (a company which makes wonderful snowshoes) is importing a French-made sit up toboggan called the Weez which steers with  handle-and-brake rigs on both sides of the rider. It comes in 1- and 2-person configurations. Presumably, when you pull the right brake you’ll pivot slightly on that side and go right, and vice versa. Looks like fun. We’ll give you an update as soon as we’ve actually tried it.

Would You Sooner a Yooner?

TSL is also importing what looks like the  sit-skis used by handicapped skiers. It’s called the Yooner. Again, we haven’t tried it and have no idea how hard it is to learn or how it would do on unpacked slopes. Stay tuned for a full report if and when we get to try one out.

Any of these high tech gems will turn an ordinary winter day into playtime. All you need is a slope and a little snow. Once you’ve invested in the sled, the fun is free.

Karhu Meta Skis in their natural environment--the snowy, rolling hills of Quebec's Gaspesie (David Shedd photo)

A number of years ago, the legendary ski company Karhu (which is now making running shoes, not skis–go figure?) brought out some odd contraptions called “Meta Skis,” which were, essentially, very short, very fat skis with incredibly rugged, machined aluminum bindings on them. The bindings looked like  a cross between free-heel Telemark and snowboard bindings–but they let you wear almost any footwear you want from sneakers (though your calves probably wouldn’t be happy with that choice) up to the super-insulated “Mouse Boots” that are supposed to keep your feet warm at 100 below zero. On the bottom were metal edges and a wide, permanently-mounted strip of climbing skin. A later version of the Meta Ski was a little longer, had more sidecut, and was called the Karver. The Meta Skis and Karvers defined a category and “meta skis” has become  a generic term for any very short, fat skis for backcountry travel. “Sliding Snowshoes” is the other common way to describe this category of snow toys.

These innovative products were designed to bridge the gap between snowshoes and backcountry skis. What they are is a lot of fun and very useful — in the right circumstances.

Now let’s be clear that meta skis will never completely replace either snowshoes or backcountry skis for real backcountry use. But they certainly have their place on the snow-covered wooded hills and trails of the northeast .

Snowshoes have some real advantages for winter backcountry travel. They are easy to learn: if you can walk, you can snowshoe. Basically you just place one on each foot, then place one foot in front of the other until you get where you want to go. Yes, it’s almost that easy. Snowshoes are safe, stable and can go almost anywhere there’s snow. Most modern snowshoes have built-in traction that keeps you from sliding on crust or ice. Best of all, snowshoes are fun–at least for endorphin addicts. You can get a great workout on snowshoes–especially in deep snow.  But, they’re slow…slower than plain old walking on bare ground. Yes, there is a whole circuit of races sun on snowshoes, but, generally, if you feel the need for speed, snowshoes are NOT your vehicle of choice for snow travel.

The permanent skins on the base of the Karhus provide excellent climbing traction AND slow you down for control coming downhill. (David Shedd photo)

Backcountry skis , including Telemark,  Alpine Touring (sometimes called AT or by the French name, Randonée), and a newer hybrid category called backcountry nordic, require more skill to use safely than snowshoes do. But they climb moderate hills easily with either fishscale bases and steeper slopes with removable climbing skins. Best of all, they let you come down those hills much, much faster than you can on snowshoes. Those downhills are perfect for adrenaline addicts . . .

Meta skis were supposed to be faster than snowshoes, but easier to control than skis. One of the big selling points was that you didn’t need special ski boots—they work well with hiking boots and  insulated “Pac” boots. No cold or wet feet — ever! But, like any other hybrid, sliding snowshoes are a compromise. They aren’t as safe and stable as snowshoes. They aren’t as thrilling as skis.

It seemed a lot of the Meta Skis and Karvers from Karhu were sold to wilderness snowmobilers who needed emergency backup transportation if their machines broke down far from the road. But some pairs were sold to people like us who just want to explore every possible option for human-powered fun on snow.

Here’s a quick look at the category.

Meta Skis and Karvers (9.25 lbs./pair with bindings)

The elegant originals which defined the category, the Karhu offerings are still in common use, even though they are not made anymore. Wide enough to really float in deep snow, they have simple-to-use bindings which provide great support and stability with almost any high boot, and can only be described as “bombproof.” The wide strip of climbing skin on the bottom lets you climb on crusted or icy snow far better than fishscales. Coming downhill, that permanent climbing skin cuts both ways. It slows you down which makes these the easiest “sliding snowshoes” to control on a descent, but they also take the adrenaline rush of speed out of the equation. Tradeoffs.

Karhu defined the category with the original "Meta Skis" and the Karvers (shown here)--short skis with permanent climbing skins and bombproof bindings that worked with any boot. (David Shedd photo)

EasternSlopes.com Exective Editor Tim Jones is lucky enough to own a pair of Karvers. As he says, “I prefer snowshoes for serious backcountry travel with a heavy pack, and skis for real slopes. But the Karvers definitely have their place. They are really fun for poking around in the woods and on moderate hillsides in untracked snow. They float beautifully and can climb and descend easily and safely, a little faster than snowshoes but much slower than skis.

They are also particularly great for tracking out cross-country trails after a snowstorm for you and your friends to ski later. A friend of mine keeps borrowing mine for exactly that purpose.”

Senior Editor David Shedd and correspondent Susan (Marean) Shedd used original Karhu Meta Skis in the deep powder of the Chic Choc Mountains of Quebec’s Gaspésie National Park in February. They were utterly enchanted with the experience. Skiing on them out of the Auberge De Montagne Des Chic-Chocs, using AT boots provided by the lodge, they found that the Meta Skis climb beautifully, and after a little practice were a total ball in surprisingly tight glades (the stiffness of the AT boots over regular winter boots added a lot of edge control and made them almost perform like Tele skis). On this same adventure, they were also skiing full AT gear on the steeper, longer slopes, but found they preferred the Meta Skis on rolling terrain; no stopping to put skins on for each hill. In fact, they liked them so much that they’ve been watching for a good deal on eBay!

Sadly, Karhu discontinued both the Meta Skis and the Karvers some years ago. So if you want to try the inspirations which defined the category, you’ll have to go looking for a used pair (AFTER David and Susan find theirs!). Oh, and if you happen to have an under-used pair of Karvers or Meta Skis gathering dust in your attic, or know someone who does, please let us know. We know people who want them (and not just our own editors!).

The L.L. Bean Boreal Sliding snowshoes are the lightest of the test. (Tim Jones photo)

L.L. Bean Boreal Sliding Snowshoe (6.25 lbs./pair with bindings)

When Karhu stopped producing its versions, the idea of a “meta ski”  was just too good to let die, and , L. L.. Bean started offering a very light short ski with a fishscale bottom called the “Boreal Sliding Snowshoe.”

These are made by Rossignol, but aren’t (at this writing, at least) in Rossignol’s catalog. Basically, they appear to be a shorter (130 cm) version of Rossignol’s BC 125 Backcountry Ski which is offered in 165, 175 and 185 cm lengths. The Boreals feature the same well-proven “Positrack” no-wax fishscale base as the longer BC skis.

We had a chance to try the Boreals last winter, first on a light skiff of snow over grass at the Hulbert Outdoor Center’s Winter Skills Day, later on the bunny slopes at Gunstock, in the woods near Waterville Valley and, finally, on some lovely soft spring corn snow on local logging trails. Our first impressions indicated that the scale bases don’t climb nearly as well as skins; part of the problem seems to be that the skis are so stiff that it takes a very heavy user to make full contact between the scales and the snow. But a pair of removable “kicker” skins under the foot area would probably make these things climb like mountain goats.The overall light weight (lightest in the category) is a real plus when trekking up hills.

Some of our testers described the Boreals as "squirrelly" on hard snow. Better boots and bindings might help. (Tim Jones photo

The Boreals with their slick fishscale bases are MUCH faster downslope than the Karhus with their built-in skins. They are so fast, in fact, that their speed makes them harder to control, but more fun for people who know how to ski and have the space between trees to make turns. Tradeoffs.

We didn’t feel the Boreals offered the kind of all-conditions reliability we’d demand for touring with a heavy winter backpack, nor were they particularly stable on crust and hard snow. In fact, several testers independently described them as “squirrelly” (or an unprintable version of that concept). But they were great fun for playing in untracked soft corn snow. We’d be cautious about using them for climbing or descending at either end of the snow spectrum, however; both powder and crust made them hard to control for most of us.

The Berwin binding that is offered with the set allows the use of regular boots, which is the way to go if you are traveling mostly on flat ground, in extreme cold, or if you suffer from cold feet. But don’t expect a lot of stability and control on downhills. The Berwins are a backcountry classic. You don’t get a lot of lateral edge control, but they are lightweight and easy to use with gloved hands. If you are really leaving the road behind and heading somewhere where a broken binding could put you in peril, it’s a good idea to carry a spare binding. While the Berwin bindings are proven wilderness travelers, and certainly rugged enough for most situations, they ARE made of plastic.

If you really want to get the best of the Boreals as backcountry skis, we’d probably recommend mounting them with 75mm 3-pin- or 3-pin-and-cable e Tele bindings and using them with a soft leather or plastic Tele boot. Though at that point, we aren’t sure what, if any, their advantage would be over a longer ski. We haven’t had the opportunity to try that combination yet, but feel confident that it would be an improvement, and should reduce the “squirrelly” factor significantly, particularly on downhills. More testing needed . . .

The Marquette Backcountry skis aren't for hard snow, but were great fun in soft spring corn. (Marilyn Donnelly photo)

Marquette Backcountry Ski (10 lbs./pair without binding)

Poking around for similar products, we discovered the Marquette Backcountry Ski, which is injection molded of rugged plastic with a scale base. These things are BUILT . . . you could probably lend them to your pet elephant and let him play on them without fear of damage (to the skis, at least). The Marquette Backountries are less expensive than the Boreals, but without the metal edges. They come pre-tapped for Berwin, 3-pin, Nordic Backcountry or Tele bindings so mounting the binding of your choice or trying different ones is easy and quick.

Unfortunately, these arrived too late last winter for any extensive testing, though we did spend an afternoon poking around on some small hills covered with buttery-soft corn snow and had a ball. We are waiting for a good powder dump to try them again. The Marquettes are rockered (think rocking chair) and should float like a dream in deep powder. They certainly floated on the rotting corn snow. Because they don’t have metal edges, we’d be scared spitless to take them anywhere near crust- or ice-covered slopes. For that reason alone, we’d NEVER use them on a backcountry adventure. In our opinion, these are strictly for play on wooded slopes on soft-snow days, and for packing XC trails after a snowfall. That said, we can’t wait to get them out on logging roads in deep, fresh snow . . .and if you’ve got a sloped back yard, prepare for fun.

Ready for a day of play in the snow. Meta skis won't replace snowshoes and backcountry skis, but they make rolling hills and deep snow lots of fun. (David Shedd photo)

Again, we tried our test pair first with Berwin Bindings and insulated boots. We’re guessing they’ll work better with a soft Tele setup and will update this article as soon as we’ve explored that option. Stay tuned!

The Takeaway

Some people have described meta skis or sliding snowshoes as “a solution looking for a problem.” And it’s true that no one “needs” a pair of sliding snowshoes if they already have snowshoes and/or skis. But in our view meta skis are are made for having fun on rolling hills, not mountains, which makes them perfect for backyard play throughout the northeast. In the end, they’re another great excuse to get outdoors on snow, get some fresh air and exercise, and have fun.

An array of new LED headlamps makes our favorite Princeton Tec Aurora (center, back) look dim and outdated (David Shedd photo)

In the days when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, the first camping headlamps came out. And, just like the dinosaurs, they were bulky, heavy, and dim. The first one any of us carried looked like an old-style doctor’s reflector; about 3 inches around, with a battery pack wired on the back of it that held 4AA batteries. They’d last a night or two, and the light it gave was barely visible under a full moon. Years went by, and smaller units with halogen bulbs came along…a significant improvement, but they were still relatively heavy battery hogs.

LED technology changed all that. And one light in particular, the Princeton Tec Aurora, caught the fancy of many of us. Small and light, it had three levels of brightness, making it useful for both finding our way back to camp and reading in our tents. At last count, there were at least a half dozen in use among the EasternSlopes.com cast of characters.

But, times change, and LED is no longer an emerging technology. Obviously, advancements had been made over the years, but was it really worth moving up to new units?  Time to test!

We rounded up a range of lights, all based on a 3AAA battery setup. It seems  to us that 4.5 volts is the “sweet spot” for camping: enough voltage for brightness, but relatively little bulk and weight. Many manufacturers are using that formula, so it’s likely that if you grab a headlamp off a camping store’s shelf, that’s what you’ll get. But…which one should you grab?

Four LED headlamps, four dramatically different patterns...which one is right for YOU??? (David Shedd photo)

As usual, the answer is “it depends.” In particular, it depends on your personal preferences and needs. Do you like to hike at night? Do you chase down nightcrawlers, or want to get to a particular spot to watch a meteor shower? Is your main reason for camping being able to lie down in your tent at night and read without anyone bothering you? Or, do you participate in extreme activities where bulletproof is THE main factor?

A perfect task light is bright, focused, with an even beam pattern, but may be too bright for reading; a great light for hiking has a bright, focused center with a wide area that’s less bright to allow your peripheral vision to work. Pick the wrong light, and you’ll significantly reduce your enjoyment of what YOU want a light for.

Probably the first choice you need to make is…do you want a unit with a red light in it or not? For the majority of people, red is simply not necessary. Red light has the advantage of not messing up your night vision; that’s why airplanes have red lighting on the instrumentation. However, there are a limited number of situations where you would use it. If you happen to be someone who reads a lot of maps in the dark, you would want it; however, you also probably work for the CIA and have a particular government-issue unit anyway. For some campers, the idea of being able to walk to a vantage point for stargazing without losing any night vision is a real plus. And, seriously, nightcrawlering (in some parts of the country, that actually IS a verb) is much easier with a red light (the little buggers don’t react as much to it, so you can be slower and STILL have your bait to catch breakfast). If you’ve never used a red light before, you may want to consider buying a light with it and play with it; the cost and weight penalties in this group are low, and you might find that you’re one of the people who loves having it!

Note how quickly light output drops over time, as battery voltage drops in an unregulated power supply system (Courtesy Underwater Kinetics)

So, with no further fanfare, here’s the results of our testing, broken down into white only/white & red.  Testing was done with new Duracell AAAs; weights listed include the batteries (let’s face it, how useless its it to know how much a light weighs WITHOUT batteries???). Lumen output is per manufacturer’s specifications. Please realize that those ratings are with fresh batteries; none of these units uses a regulated power supply, so light output drops quite rapidly in use (see chart). That’s a great reason to use rechargeable batteries…each time you go out, you’re getting the maximum output from your headlamp without throwing away relatively good batteries. Read on, and see which description sounds most like YOU!

White Only Headlamps

LL Bean Trailblazer (top) & Princeton Tec Fuel (Tim Jones photo)

Princeton Tec Fuel/L. L. Bean Trailblazer ($15 and up street price; 2.7 oz.  35 lumens on high.) This is the “small and light” of the test, with a tiny barrel-shaped form that easily tucks into a pocket and 3 LEDs (see below for an update!).  The Bean version is simply the Fuel rebranded as the Trailblazer; buy it from them, and get the famous Bean warranty along with Princeton Tec quality. The beam pattern is nice and broad, but is oddly cut off at the bottom on the Bean version. We contacted Bean about that, and it appears to be sample variation from Princeton Tec’s manufacturing; there’s no difference in spec between the two lights (another good reason to buy from a place with a great return warranty!). It’s a generally good performer; bright and focused enough for a task light, light, compact, relatively easy to use (although the button can be difficult to find with gloves on). A good choice if you are someone who uses your headlamp around camp, in their tent, reading, general relatively close-up tasks, but also does some nighttime walking. UPDATE: The Fuel is now available in a 4 LED version; same size, more brightness (43 lumens), a few more dollars. We haven’t tested it yet, but expect it to be similar to the current one based on design.

Coleman High Power ($25 MSRP; 3.6 oz.  75-15 lumen range.) The shock of the test.  Cheap and easily available at outlets like Wal-Mart, it has a bright (75 lumens on high), wide beam pattern with a spotlight effect in the center.  It’s effective for walking; the spotlight goes where you’re aimed, while the dimmer light around the perimeter allows you to use your peripheral vision. As a task light, the spotlight center can be a bit TOO focused and small, requiring you to pay close attention to aiming it just right, but it’s still more than adequate. And, with three light levels, it’s acceptable for reading (with the same caveat as task light…you have to make sure you’re either aiming the center spot AT what you’re reading, or using it on a brighter setting and making sure the center isn’t hitting the page). The switch is rotary and on the side of the unit; it’s easy to use even with heavy gloves on. For the money, unbeatable. Most likely user: Bargain hunters and people who left their main light at home and needed to grab something on the way…and who just might never go back to their other light!

Primus PrimeLite CT (Bob Purvis photo)

Primus PrimeLite CT ($66 MSRP; 3.6 oz.  45 lumens on high.)- This is perhaps the best light we tested for the night hiker. It has an odd beam pattern for walking with the side lights, so switch to the large Luxeon center LED (save the side lights for use in and around camp). Immediately, we noticed that it is very similar to the Coleman in pattern, but smoother; the transition from the center to the edges was more gradual, creating an almost flawless match for what our eyes wanted. Interestingly enough, the Luxeon is also more yellow than the side LEDs, and while we were initially disappointed with that, we found that it did a better job of cutting through fog and haze than the whiter lights did. It’s a large light physically, although not the heaviest in the group. Another advantage is that it’s waterproof to IPX7 standards (immersion to 1 meter for 30 minutes); you’ll still have light to find your way home after you fall into a river! Biggest weakness? Price; it’s the most expensive of the group by far. Still, if you’re primarily a night hiker and want a single “do it all” headlamp, this is your best choice.

Red lights:

We found a fascinating level of variation among the three lights that included a red option. It’s clear that the technology of red LEDs isn’t up to what’s happening in the world of white; that’s no surprise, given that there’s dramatically more uses for white LEDs, so more research and manufacturing dollars head in that direction. Still, these three lights offered function beyond the white-only headlamps; take a look and see if one is right for you!

Primus PrimeLite CA ($78 MSRP; 3.6 oz.  45 lumens on high.)  This is effectively the PrimeLite CT with fewer side LEDs and a red beam replacing them. So, take the comments above, and add in “it has red, too”…you’ve pretty much got what this is. The red beam pattern is great for reading maps, or reading in your tent without irritating the others in there who are trying to sleep, but too diffuse for walking; you can certainly get around, but the light doesn’t have the kind of intensity and penetration that’s ideal for night hiking. So…if you’re a night hiker who uses white light, great; but if you’re a night hiker who uses red, not so much. Still, for someone who hikes at night mostly with white light but wants a red option, this is likely the top choice.

Princeton Remix($30-35 street price; 3.0 oz.  100 lumens on high.)- Pretty much the opposite of the PrimeLite CA…if your goal is to use the red light for hiking, this is your lamp. No, it’s not as bright as the white headlamps (red never is, partially because of the way our eyes work), but as long as you’re sensible and not trying to walk too fast, it works; it’s bright enough, and has the best red beam pattern of any we tried. Beyond that, it’s a great beam pattern for nightcrawlering; if you’re a fisherman, you know that white light makes them shoot into their holes. Use red, and they’re a LOT easier to grab!

River Rock TekTrek ($35; 3.9 oz.  No rating given.)  This appeared late in the test, from a company that we’d never heard of…and utterly blew us away.  Without question, the smoothest, most consistent beam pattern of ANY headlamp we’ve ever tried, and possibly the best we’ve seen from any LED flashlight, period…and that’s with a focusing beam that goes from flood to spot. Bright? Even on its lowest setting (10% of brightest), and with the beam focus on its widest, it’s on the bright side for reading…but wonderful for that purpose, as the smooth pattern means no trying to keep it aimed directly at the page. On full power, it’s a blowtorch. As a task light, it’s phenomenal; absolutely without peer in this test. Walking? The beam is too focused and small (even in the full floodlight setting) to be ideal for that, and there’s NONE of the dimming around the perimeter that we prefer. Still, if your main use is for tasks around the camp, you can still walk with it. Other nice touches include a water resistant design, continuously adjustable power from 100% to 10%, and blue/green/red LEDs. Frankly, we still haven’t found a use for the blue and green, other than making things look funny, but there’s no real loss to them being there, either. The red LED pattern is a weak spot; it’s broken up quite a bit. But, it’s quite bright, and functional for night walking. River Rock  is a company to watch; if their other products live up to this one, we’ll be seeing a lot more from them!

Underwater Kinetics eLED “Vizion”($45; 4.0 oz.  65 lumens on high, 35 on low.) UK has been known for years as a manufacturer of lights that work when they absolutely HAVE to. Their market has mainly been commercial uses, fire departments, scuba divers (one editor used their products 20  years ago when he was doing semi-professional diving). The Vizion is their first foray into the general sportsmen’s market, and it definitely was designed based on that background. Light levels? Only two, and no strobe setting, either. Colors?  Red, sure, but done with a filter, not an extra LED. Want to use it for reading? There’s a rotating diffusion filter on the OUTSIDE of the lamp, so it won’t compromise the waterproofness. How waterproof? Try 33 feet…like we said, UK has always been serious about that issue. Size? Relatively large and heavy for the features, because that’s necessary to make sure it’s waterproof and unbreakable, yet not dramatically larger than the PrimeLites. This light is a total beast and may outlive you. It’s a decent overall performer without being particularly great at anything. When white, it’s bright enough for hiking and task use without being the brightest, dim enough for reading even if not ideal. The red filter effect is…weird. There’s a lot of white overspill, so it won’t protect your night vision perfectly the way a true red LED will, but it’s amazing for reading maps;  it creates contrast on the maps almost like a blacklight, and water shows up ridiculously well. One cute bonus; the batteries and LED come out of the housing in a capsule (part of the waterproofing system), and the capsule can be used as a lantern in your tent/cabin…like the rest of the features of the light, it’s not perfect, but not bad. When pressed, several testers said that if they HAD to own only one light and their lives would potentially depend on it ALWAYS working, this would be their choice. It’s hard to argue with that perspective; none of us found that we were unhappy when we had to use it for a night.

We couldn't resist playing with the TekTrek's green LED to produce such appetizing results as this "nuclear waste lamb." (David Shedd photo)

The best news is that ALL of the lights outperformed our old Auroras dramatically. Sometimes, “newer” means “maybe no better, maybe even worse.” When it comes to LED headlamps, that’s not true. There’s not a single one of these lights that we’d be unhappy with; while we found that some were better than others at certain things, if we had a 5 year old headlamp and someone tossed us one of these, it’d be a no-brainer to keep the new one. With the range of features and prices available, there’s no reason to NOT buy one if you don’t own one…and if you do own one, you may just want to take it in to your favorite outdoor retailer and compare the output, beam pattern, and features to the new crop…just make sure to take your wallet with you!

First things first: If your boots are more than 3 or 4 years old, and you’re a “serious” skier (not just enjoying leisurely cruises down easier trails, but really wanting to feel your skis under you on a full range of terrain and snow conditions), you owe it to yourself to upgrade your boots. Boot development has lagged behind skis, and, until quite recently, most ski boots were still being made the way they were in the straight ski days: stiff fore-and-aft to pressure the tips and bend straight skis into a carving arc. But moderns “shape” skis don’t need to be pressured–just tip them on their sides and they turn for you. Boots can be relatively flexible fore-and-aft, but must be laterally stiff to easily and quickly lay the ski over on edge. The boot’s job is to let you get the ski on edge–the more you tip the ski, the sharper the turn.

Though most boot manufacturers are rethinking their designs and producing better boots for the modern skis, one of the best designs I’ve found  (see Choosing Ski Boots: A Personal Journey), is Dalbello’s redesign of the old Raichle Flexon. The lateral stiffness of that 3-piece design made it beloved by racers who were laid way over on edge on straight skis, and it works for the new skis, as well. Add to the basic design some improved  fit, and a heat-moldable liner inside, and you’ve got a recipe for some serious boots. Throw Glen Plake and his skill and experience into the redesign mix, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a boot that can perform at the highest levels.

But, notice the word “can.” Just because you’ve gotten a good boot does not mean it  ”will” perform the way you want it to. All high-end boots, but particularly the Dalbellos, are complex pieces of machinery with adjustments for cant, camber and, sometimes, fore and aft stiffness (“flex”). If they don’t all work together, the result could be worse than you’d expect. Wrong adjustments, in other words, could be worse than no adjustments.

When you're looking for a high-end bootfitter, a recommendation from Tommy Moe isn't a bad thing . (David Shedd photo)

This is where going to a professional makes a LOT of sense. You can buy some ski gear on eBay or Craigslist (poles, for instance) where you don’t need someone else’s expertise to make them work. But boots are different…no matter how technically savvy you are, you probably can’t set them up the way a professional can. Even if you ARE a professional, you can’t see yourself at the correct angles to know how your legs and knees are tracking, how you balance on the boots, whether the cant and camber are correct…you get the idea.

After I’d had my Dalbellos fitted by a qualified bootfitter, including heat molding the Intuition ID liners with my custom insoles in place, and had gotten some days on the slopes in them, it was clear that the boots were a great choice for me. I felt confident on them, easily controlled my skis, and was more comfortable than I’d been in years (heat-moldable liners are a wonderful thing, particularly if you have weird feet and bony ankles like mine!). Sounds like I’d gotten what I’d paid for, right?  In some ways, yes.  I’d bought new boots, and as hoped, could feel huge differences over my old ones.  But…was I getting all that I’d paid for?

Only one way to know…yes, go to the professionals. In my case, that’s Richelson’s Feet First in Plymouth, NH.  Not only had they fitted my old boots and made my custom insoles a decade ago, they’re also one of the real cutting-edge facilities in the nation. A number of Olympic champions have trusted them to make sure they get the most from THEIR boots…who am I to argue with them? Plymouth’s a 2 hour, pain-in-the-neck drive from my house, but to get what they offer, it’s worth it. Paul Richelson has been fitting orthotics since the ’70s; “newbie” Brian McCall has been at it for a decade. In particular, Brian’s the specialist for fine-tuning ski boots…clearly the man to meet with!

Bootfitting is an art, but without the scientific tools shown here, it's hard to get the absolute precision you deserve. (David Shedd photo)

Turns out I needed  a “ski stance alignment”; making sure that the boot is set up so that my body’s natural position is ideal for skiing. Not many of us are perfectly aligned; we pronate, supinate, have bigger or smaller butts, have slight variations from one side of our body to the other. However, correctly set-up boots can help make up for that. I learned that lesson years ago, when a ski instructor watched me on the slope, then slipped a couple of shims under my boots to make up for deficiencies in my body alignment. It radically changed my skiing.

Now, the good news: a stance alignment costs $69.95. That’s 10 percent of the $700 price of the Kryptons, and a small price to pay if it makes a significant difference. The proof is in the pudding, as they say; time for me to turn myself over to the pros and see if the value is there!

Step one was for Brian to look at my old custom insoles; surprise, surprise, my body had changed in the past decade. Not a lot, but we’re talking about tiny increments to get the most out of ski boots, so everything counts. A few adjustments in key areas solved that problem.

In the left "before" photo, my hips are forward and my shoulders back. After Brian's adjustments, notice how my body is now neutrally balanced from shoulders to hips to knees to the ball of my feet. (Brian McCall photo)

With that done, Brian started to look at how the boots worked with my body. Good news: the basic setup was pretty close to correct. Between the shop bootfitter and my own tinkering, we’d done a good job. But, there were still a few things that could be improved. In particular, the boots had a tendency to force my hips forward; to maintain balance, I had to bring my shoulders back. NOT a great position to be in going down a mountain! Brian made a fore-aft adjustment that brought my hips to where they should be, and put me in a much more neutral position relative to the skis (see the before/after photo to the left).

Also, when I was standing evenly balanced,my right boot was 0.5 degrees on inside edge of the ski. But for straight tracking and faster edge engagement Brian recommended a full 1 degree.The left boot, however, had me at 0.4 degrees on the outside edge…that meant a significant shift before I would feel the inside edge engaging in a turn. In other words, my right turns would be slower to initiate than my left, my left leg would work harder, and tire out faster. Hmm. Brian worked his magic, made the changes, and sent me on my way.

Right foot on inside edge, left foot on outside edge; I'm skiing in circles without even trying! NOT a good way to get the most from your expensive new skis... (Brian McCall photo)

So…what did the changes feel like, out on the slopes? In a word, revolutionary. First, having the edges set so that they’re ever so slightly engaged at all times made my skis feel more stable with less tip- wandering wiggle when just cruising along. Second, when I initiated a turn, it happened “NOW!”, not “now”. That alone was a huge help the day I ended up at Sunday River trying to keep up with two ex-racers in fast conditions. That feeling of the edge being RIGHT THERE for me at all times allowed me to go faster and feel safer.

Much bigger, though, was the change in fore-aft balance. Before, it felt like I had to be in the “back seat” to get the rear half of the ski fully engaged. Now, as soon as I tip the ski into a turn, I can feel the entire ski edge carving like a knife; it’s a beautiful feeling! And, with very minor weight shifts, I can easily dig hard into boilerplate, or ride up over a soft pile of crud. These are all things I could do before, but now it’s  intuitive, almost part of my body, rather than something I force myself into. And, to not have that “back seat” feeling to get the rear half of the ski to work as one with the front is priceless; it’s not just a gain in confidence, it’s a totally different feeling of being safe at speed.

Ultimately, there’s no question but what it was worth the price, and more.  When we test new skis I know that differences I feel are caused by the skis, not by my boots giving me an inaccurate picture of what the ski is doing; that’s incredibly important for evaluating skis.  But, when I’m on my own skis, and I feel that instantaneous edge bite, with the whole ski working a perfect carve under me…isn’t that what skiing is all about?  The joy of a bluebird day, fresh snow, and the skis singing under us is a big part of why we’re out there, and getting that last few percent out of my boots is giving me a whole lot more joy for not a lot of money.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you have old boots…don’t waste your time and money on a stance alignment. That’s simply throwing good money after bad. Get some new boots that are designed to work WITH your shape skis, not against them. But, if you’ve made the investment in the right pair of boots for you, and have had them properly fitted with custom insoles, take that final, extra step to make sure you are getting every iota of performance they can deliver. It will improve your skiing, you will have more fun from each and every day on the slopes, and you’ll get more out of your skiing dollar for years to come!